LUCKNOW, Feb. 9 -- A 38-year-old former employee of a pharmaceutical warehouse allegedly tried to extort Rs.30 lakh from his ex-employer by threatening him through a letter in the name of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The man was arrested in Lucknow, police said on Sunday, adding that the accused struggling with unpaid dues and mounting loans borrowed the idea from crime films and web series to stage the threat. The arrest was made by Sarojini Nagar police following a complaint filed on January 30 by Gaurav Batra, owner of Karun Enterprises, a medicine warehouse located in Hindnagar, Transport Nagar. "Batra told police that his warehouse guard had handed him an envelope containing a handwritten letter demanding Rs.30 lakh within 15 days, failing which he and his employees were threatened with death. The letter was signed 'Bishnoi Gang, UP East'," Krishna Nagar ACP Rajneesh Verma said. Taking the threat seriously, police registered an FIR under Section 308(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and formed four special teams to investigate the case. Officers scanned footage from nearly 100 CCTV cameras installed around the warehouse and nearby routes, eventually zeroing in on the suspect. "The accused was identified as Umesh Kumar Yadav, a former employee of the same warehouse. He was arrested around 12:20 pm from Rahimabad Road," DCP (south) Nipun Agarwal said, adding that a scooter, helmet and shawl used in the crime were recovered. "During interrogation, Yadav told police that he had quit his job in August 2025 after his settlement dues were not cleared. Burdened with a bank loan of around Rs.7 lakh and financial stress, he decided to extort money from his former employer, whom he believed earned well," the DCP added. ACP Verma said Yadav travelled to the warehouse on a scooter, parked it behind a fence, covered himself with a shawl, wore a helmet to conceal his identity, and discreetly handed the envelope to the guard before fleeing. He later admitted that he wrote the extortion letter himself. "The accused has no criminal history. He was inspired by the 2008 film 'C Kkompany' and other crime films and web series and believed the use of a notorious gangster's name would create fear," the ACP said....