The extortion menace in India

Killing of prominent business man Ashish Dey is a sad day in the history of Jamshedpur, a town named after the founding industrialist of India. Our condolences to their family. It is not the politicians that run the wheels of India; it is the businessmen that take risks and contribute to the well being of numerous working families.

Mumbai policemen have typically followed encounter killings against extortionists. The encounter killing ensures that not all unemployed youth consider the profession as an easy living. Despite their filmy glamorous robinhood image in Munnabhai, extortionists are the scum of society and the dirt that connects the underworld and the civilized world. There are thousands of extortions to every encounter elimination.

Here are some tips to protect yourself.
- Keep a low profile. This includes not buying new imported cars. It used to be Income Tax that used to hound businessman before, now extortionists go by signs of good living. Have vacations abroad and keep quite about it too.
- Extortionists usually have a local connection. It pays to keep track of the local no good hangarounds. These are usually the local opposition party folks; they do not have the steady income stream of the ruling party goondas.- Do not give in. If you do, make sure that law enforcement knows about it. Extortionists leave tons of traces behind and are easy killings.
- Make sure that the family in always aware of any funny calls. Compare notes and take action immediately.
- Have base in more than one state. That sounds like running around, but it does help if your travel and business plans are unpredicatable. Extortionists tend to scout for predictability and being unpredictable helps.
- Keep following up with police if you have had an extortion experience. Typically, by this time, you know who they are and where they live. Do not let up the pressure. The police will call you directly or via your local politician when the encounter happens. It is a very satisfying day when that happens. With luck(and I mean lots of it), you may even get to meet them face to face for some private time before the encounter. I do not recommend it, as stooping to their level is not a good idea in the long run.