Meerut: Desperate to fund his music videos, a 20-year-old struggling singer from Meerut, Samarth Singh Jakhar made a ransom call to a local businessman demanding Rs 10 lakh from him. According to officials, Jakhar introduced himself as an associate of Monu Jaat, a gangster currently in jail, in order to terrorize his victim. However, before the businessman relented, police arrested Jakhar and his associate.Officials said that Jakhar’s only claim to fame is a handful of videos that he uploaded on YouTube, one of which received 17,000 views. During questioning, he revealed that he wanted to establish himself as a singer but did not have money to shoot music videos. Recently, he saw Monu Jaat’s name in a local newspaper and devised a plan along with his cousin Atul Malik (19) to extort money from the business.On February 14, a dairy owner in Civil Lines area (whose name has been withheld) received a ransom call of Rs 10 lakh. “The businessman was threatened with dire consequences if he did not pay up. After working on the case and tracing of the calls made to him, we zeroed in on Jakhar, a resident of Sarurpur village, and his cousin who belongs to Shamli district,” said additional superintendent of police (ASP) Satpal Antil.“Jakhar comes from a modest farmer family but was very ambitious. He had already spent a lot on his videos but had not earned anything from them. During questioning, he said that he had made only Rs 250 from his videos on social media,” the ASP said.They duo was e arrested late on Friday night from Nagla Battu in Civil Lines Area. Two country-made weapons were recovered from them. Both the youths have been booked under IPC sections 392 (punishment for robbery), 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt) and Section 25 of the Arms Act.

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