Ludhiana: ₹65 lakh extorted from ex-lineman over 6 yrs, PSPCL ex-JE among 3 held
Another former junior engineer and three others are yet to be arrested, say police; the incident came to light when the victim retired and his family questioned him for not taking retirement benefits home.
Former staffers of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), along with their family members and aides, allegedly honey-trapped a lineman and recorded a lewd video of him before extorting ₹65.45 lakh. The accused blackmailed the victim, Jagdish Singh, forcing him to cough up money over the years that included his salary and provident fund amount.
The matter came to light when Jagdish Singh, a resident of Sector 32 at the Chandigarh road, retired from the PSPCL a couple of months ago. After he did not take home any retirement benefit, including the General Provident Fund (GPF) amount, the family started questioning him. After he narrated the whole incident to them, his son filed a police complaint.
After investigation, the police arrested PSPCL’s retired junior engineer (JE) Daler Singh, his aides Satinder Singh, alias Sonu of Brown Road, Ram Singh Thapa and Thapa’s daughter Mitchel Thapa. Daler Singh was arrested from Khanna while the rest of the accused were arrested from Uttarakhand. Other accused, including Daler Singh’s daughter Amandeep Kaur, Satinder Singh’s brother Parminder Singh, former JE Lovepreet Singh and Ishdeep Singh, are yet to be arrested, the police said.
Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP, city 4) Prabhjot Singh Virk said Jagdish Singh was posted in Dhandhari Kalan. His wife died in 2011 following an ailment. The then JE Lovepreet Singh joined the PSPCL’s Dhandhari Kalan office in 2013-2014 and “forced” Jagdish Singh to establish physical relations with a woman in the department’s quarters in 2016. Lovepreet allegedly recorded a video of him. Later, Lovepreet had left the job.
The ADCP added that in 2018 Lovepreet Singh phoned Jagdish Singh, urging him to lend ₹2,000 to one of his friends Satinder Singh. Later, when he demanded his money back, Satinder and Daler Singh, now retired, reportedly showed him the video and demanded money.
“The accused kept on blackmailing him and grabbed his salaries and provident fund. The accused also grabbed the registration papers of his property, forced him to sign blank stamp papers and blank cheques. The accused also transferred money from his accounts to other accounts. From 2018 to 2024, the accused extorted ₹65.45 lakh from the victim,” said the ADCP.
“The police have found ₹18.7 lakh from the bank account of Satinder Singh, alias Sonu. Gold worth ₹20 lakh, silver jewelry and three expensive phones have been seized from the accused,” he added.
A case under Sections 384, 420, 467, 468, 471, 506 and 120B of the IPC has been registered against the accused at the Division number 7 police station. The police are investigating to know if they have blackmailed and extorted money from other people too.
During investigation, the police found that Satinder Singh, alias Sonu, and his brother Parminder Singh were involved in duping people in a land scam. Sub-inspector Bhupinder Singh, SHO of the Division number 7 police station, said the accused had fake letterheads and stamps of Tata Steel. The accused posed as staffers of Tata Steel and duped people on the pretext of buying their land at higher rates.