Chandigarh Congress V-P, wife, son held for cheating

Mohali police arrested Babla’s sister Balwinder Kaur, who is vice-president of the Congress women wing, Chandigarh; her husband Roopinder Singh, vice-president of Chandigarh Congress, besides their son Ranjot Singh, general secretary of Chandigarh Youth Congress, from their house in Sector 27 A

Mohali police on Tuesday arrested Chandigarh Congress’ vice-president, his wife and his son, who are relatives of BJP leader Devinder Singh Babla, for allegedly duping a city resident of ₹2.30 crore through the fraudulent sale of an industrial plot.

The accused were booked on July 22 by Phase-1 police following the directions of the then Mohali SSP. He had asked the police to register a case based on the probe report submitted by SP HS Maan. (Getty image)

Police arrested Babla’s sister Balwinder Kaur, who is vice-president of the Congress women wing, Chandigarh; her husband Roopinder Singh, vice-president of Chandigarh Congress, besides their son Ranjot Singh, general secretary of Chandigarh Youth Congress, from their house in Sector 27 A. The police also booked Roopinder’s father Jaspal Singh in the case.

The accused were booked on July 22 by Phase-1 police following the directions of the then Mohali SSP. He had asked the police to register a case based on the probe report submitted by SP HS Maan.

The case was registered following the complaint of Sorabh Goyal, who alleged that the accused despite receiving ₹2.30 crore in cash and four cheques amounting to ₹70 lakh from him against the sale of a joint plot spanning 2,500 square yards in Phase-8 B, made a sale agreement with another party from whom the accused took ₹10 lakh token money.

Goyal, in his police complaint, said he was approached for the plot deal in mid-December last year. After finalising the deal for ₹14.28 crore, Goyal paid ₹5 lakh in cash as token money, following which the date of the agreement was finalised as January 5, 2024. The complainant claimed that he, along with the dealers, visited the house of the accused in Chandigarh on the day of the agreement and paid ₹2.30 crore in cash, along with four cheques in the name of the three arrested accused and Jaspal, who jointly owns the plot.

Goyal said after the accused did not get their cheques cleared despite numerous requests, he got suspicious.

“The accused kept making excuses whenever I insisted on cheque clearance. After the deadline for the cheques expired, I confronted Roopinder. The accused did not even turn up at the office of the sub-registrar in Sector 76, Mohali, while i was present there with drafts of the remaining amount. On investigation, I got to know that Ranjot and Roopinder Singh received ₹10 lakh as a token money and agreed to sell the same plot to Pritpal Singh and Amritpal Singh for ₹16.50 crore,” the complainant said.

However, during a probe initiated by SP HS Maan, Roopinder said other than him, other partners of the plot never signed the deal or received the cheques, and the complainant made the fake signatures. After both Pritpal Singh and Amritpal Singh supported the complainant’s statement during the investigation, and also sought legal action against the accused for allegedly cheating them of ₹10 lakh, police registered a case and arrested the accused.

All accused were booked under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC. They were sent to a two-day police remand.