“They asked for protection money on behalf of Chhota Shakil, and sent text messages and called the victim several times. They told him that if he didn’t arrange the money, he would be killed,” an officer said.

The accused were arrested from Rajouri Garden on January 1 and have been identified as Aslam Ansari (31), alias Badshah, and Phool Singh (25), alias Guddu. Ansari has worked in some TV serials and a movie, the police said.

The businessman had been receiving threatening calls from Badshah, a “henchman of Chhota Shakil”, since November 23. The calls were being made from a Mumbai number, which was put under surveillance after the businessman filed a complaint with the Crime Branch. The police said the caller would speak in a “Mumbai dialect”.

Ansari told the police that he developed an interest in acting while working for an event management company. “He moved to Mumbai in 2001 and started getting small roles in movies and TV serials. He worked in a movie, ‘Woh Tere Naam’, and many TV serials like ‘Kahin Kisi Roz’, ‘Sahab Bibi Ka Gulam’ and ‘Kashish’,” Neeraj Thakur, DCP (Crime Branch), said.

In 2007, he married a singer, Ratna Singh, alias Maria, and moved to Delhi. He started his own garments factory under the name of Maria Fabricators in Raghubir Nagar, where Phool Singh joined him as a supervisor. Before this, Singh was working in a factory owned by the complainant.