Ludhiana: Assault probe leads cops to extortion racket; 2 at large

Three persons have already been arrested; investigators say they have came across a few fake identity cards which the accused used to target people for extortion

What began as a routine investigation into an assault case registered on March 10 has unravelled an extortion racket in Salem Tabri area, police officials said on Sunday.

Initially, the probe was being carried out into assault by the accused on a resident of Aman Nagar besides a few others. (HT PHOTO)

Officials of the Salem Tabri police station said that a resident of Aman Nagar had accused a few residents of his locality of assaulting him and others. During the course of investigation, police came across fake documents and forged identity cards purportedly linked to various government departments, exposing an organised network targeting unsuspecting residents, officials said. Three persons have already been arrested. Two more associates have been identified who remain at large, officials said.

Complainant Aman, a resident of Aman Nagar, had stated in his complaint that Jagjit Singh, alias Bablu, and Rajwinder Singh, both residents of the same locality, had conspired to extort ₹11 lakh from his family as they filed complaints against his factory with several government departments and threatened them with getting their unit shut in case the extortion money was not paid.

Aman also alleged that his father attempted suicide on the same day after leaving behind a note, but was rescued in time, the FIR mentioned. Later, local councillor Randhir Singh Sibia, accompanied by residents, visited the accused’s house to mediate but the accused, along with their wives, attacked the group in the street, leading to injuries, the complainant stated. After that, an FIR under Sections 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 118 (1) (voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons or means), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 308 (2) (extortion) and 351 (2) (criminal intimidation) of the BNS was registered.

The investigators further stated that they came across a few fake identity cards which the accused used to target people for extortion. “The accused and their associates posed as government officials to intimidate and extort money. One of their associates, Sanjeev Chauhan, is suspected to have posed as a municipal employee to dupe victims,” the police said, adding that they are trying to ascertain the number of people they targeted and the amount they extorted.

Based on fresh evidence, police added sections 319 (2) (cheating by personation), 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property) and 111 (organised crime) of the BNS and nominated Jagjit Singh’s wife Pooja Rani, Sanjeev Chauhan and his wife Jatinder Kaur in the FIR. Jagjit and Rajwinder were arrested earlier but Pooja Rani was caught later.

Inspector Harshveer Singh, station house officer of the Salem Tabri police station, said Sanjeev Chauhan and his wife were yet to be arrested. Fake identity cards of several government departments were recovered from the possession of the arrestd persons, he added.