NEW DELHI: A 31-year-old former Applied Mathematics professor has been arrested in Nashik for allegedly issuing a bomb threat to extort ₹21 lakh from a coaching institute in northwest Delhi’s Wazirpur Industrial Area.
The accused, identified as Bachchu Jha, is also suspected of carrying out similar extortion attempts targeting a former MLA in Chhattisgarh and a lawyer in Bihar, police said.
According to investigators, the institute’s manager received a threatening call at 11:42 am on April 2 from a person identifying himself as “Babla Gurjar from Noida,” who warned of a bomb blast if the money was not paid. Following the complaint, an FIR was registered at Ashok Vihar police station and a probe was launched.
DCP (Northwest) Akanksha Yadav said a special police team traced the accused using call detail records, subscriber data, and digital footprints, which led them to Nashik in Maharashtra. “The team covered nearly 2,800 kilometres in under 18 hours to track and arrest him,” she said.
During questioning, police found that Jha had previously worked as a professor of Applied Mathematics in medical colleges in Haryana and Bihar. Officials said he allegedly used his analytical skills to carefully plan extortion calls, adopting fake identities and exploiting fear to pressure victims.
Police have seized the mobile phone used in making the threat and are now analysing his communications to identify other potential victims.
“We are examining his conversations to find out if more individuals or institutions were targeted,” an officer said.
Further investigation is underway.
