Three accused who were arrested for blackmailing and extorting money from a retired Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) employee were found involved in ₹1.12 crore fraud. The accused claiming themselves as staffers of Tata Steels duped a city-based property dealer by fabricating a bogus land deal. The accused claimed they were scouting for land for a new Tata Steel unit and lured the victim, Jagdish Lal, promising lucrative profits.
The accused have been identified as Satinder Singh of Old Civil Hospital Road, his brother Parminder Singh, former Junior Engineer of PSPCL Daler Singh of Gulmohar Nagar, Amloh, Baba Jaswant Singh of Tangrala, Amloh, Anil Singh Saini, Bilal Ahmed, and Ashutosh Gupta from Dehradun, Uttarakhand, and Ram Singh Thapa, also from Uttarakhand.
Jagdish Lal, a property dealer residing in Basant Avenue, Dugri, reported that he was approached by Baba Jaswant Singh, an Amloh resident, in 2023 through a mutual acquaintance. Singh claimed to have connections with senior officials at Tata Steel and proposed a lucrative deal. He later introduced Daler Singh, who further elaborated that Tata Steel intended to establish a large unit in the Ludhiana-Rajpura region and needed significant land for the project.
The accused promised Jagdish hefty commissions on facilitating the purchase of land for Tata Steel, claiming the deal’s profits would run into crores. Enticed by the prospect, Jagdish agreed to assist in procuring land and maintained constant contact with the accused.
{{/usCountry}}The accused promised Jagdish hefty commissions on facilitating the purchase of land for Tata Steel, claiming the deal’s profits would run into crores. Enticed by the prospect, Jagdish agreed to assist in procuring land and maintained constant contact with the accused.
{{/usCountry}}To lend credibility to their claims, the accused presented forged documents and fake seals purportedly from Tata Steel. They even handed over stamped papers to Jagdish, asserting their authenticity. Over time, Jagdish showed them multiple properties and finalized agreements on a few.
The accused demanded an initial ₹8 lakh, claiming it was required for preparing high-value documents. Subsequently, they extracted more money under the pretext of additional expenses, eventually duping Jagdish of ₹1.12 crore.
Jagdish stated that after the so-called deal in 2023, the accused continually delayed matters and avoided returning his money. Despite repeated requests for repayment, the accused refused to comply.
On December 3, 2024, Jagdish filed a complaint with senior police officials. Dugri police registered a case against the eight accused and initiated a probe.
ASI Sunil Kumar, who is investigating the case, stated that an FIR under sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 506 and 120B of IPC has been lodged against the accused. Some of the accused are already lodged in jail for their involvement in a criminal case, while a few of them are at large.
PSPCL JE Daler Singh, his aides including Satinder Singh alias Sonu, Ram Singh Thapa and Thapa’s daughter Mitchel Thapa were arrested by Division number 7 police station on December 6 for honey-trapping a lineman and recorded lewd video of him. The accused had later started blackmailing him and extorted ₹65.45 lakh in cash from him.