How a Haryana accent helped police trace an extortion trail to Malaysia

Haryana extortion case: His father borrowed Rs 1 lakh and sold his land to send him to Malaysia in 2024. Nearly two and a half years later, 22-year-old Ravi Uchani was deported to India after the Haryana Police alleged that the migrant worker had become part of an extortion network operating between Malaysia and several Indian states.

Uchani landed at Delhi airport Friday morning and was taken into custody by the Haryana Police. The investigation began with an unlikely clue: the Haryana accent of a man making an extortion call to a businessman in Jharkhand’s Ranchi from a Malaysian phone number.

That led the Haryana Police Special Task Force (STF) to look at young men from the state who had travelled to Malaysia. The trail eventually led to Uchani, a resident of the village with the same name in Karnal district, who left India on March 4, 2024, and worked as a barber in a Malaysian salon.

The police say Uchani initially worked for gangsters as a “dabba caller”, making extortion calls on their behalf, before beginning to make calls himself. Investigators say the operation was backed by a network in Haryana that included shooters and associates allegedly coordinating the operation from jail.

One of the extortion calls was allegedly made to a former Union minister in Rajasthan. In December 2025, the Haryana STF was informed about the extortion call made to the coal mine businessman in Ranchi. A team of Investigators headed by Aman Kumar, Assistant Commissioner of Police, noticed the caller's distinct Haryana accent.

The accent gave investigators their first geographical clue. They began narrowing their search to youths from Haryana who had travelled to Malaysia, while tracing the Malaysian number used for the call. Together, these clues gave investigators two leads: the caller appeared to have a connection to Haryana but was operating from Malaysia.

The STF began tracing the number while looking at people from Haryana who had travelled to Malaysia and could be connected to an extortion network. The investigation eventually took the police to Uchana. Investigators questioned some of Uchani’s friends and associates who had travelled abroad with him.

According to the police, they told investigators that Uchani had initially been involved in “dabba calling” — making calls for other gangsters. In "dabba calling", an alleged extortionist first calls a target online. He then calls his boss, who is based in another country, from a second phone, keeps the two devices side by side with their speakers on, and lets the boss speak directly to the victim.

The police said he later began making extortion calls himself, targeting Indian businessmen from Malaysia. The investigation also indicated that the operation was not limited to phone calls made from abroad. According to the STF, Uchani’s alleged network had people on the ground in Haryana who could act against businessmen who refused to pay.

The STF identified and detained eight men who, the police said, were working as shooters for the network. Investigators say they carried out attacks if businessmen did not comply with extortion demands. The police also identified two associates who allegedly coordinated parts of the operation from inside jail.

This gave investigators a picture of an extortion network spread across locations: calls being made from Malaysia, alleged coordinators operating from prison, and shooters available on the ground in Haryana. The police have also alleged that Uchani is associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.