Ludhiana: Film producer duped of ₹12L for OTT release, Mohali man booked

The Dugri police have registered a case against Gurprem Singh of Mohali following a complaint by Satwinder Singh, a resident of New Bhai Randir Singh Nagar, who is associated with film production

A promise to take a Punjabi film to the popular OTT (over-the-top) platform ZEE5 has landed a Mohali-based man in a police case after a Ludhiana film producer alleged that he was duped of ₹12 lakh.

Satwinder told the police that work on the film had remained stalled for some time. (HT)

The Dugri police have registered a case against Gurprem Singh of Mohali following a complaint by Satwinder Singh, a resident of New Bhai Randir Singh Nagar, who is associated with film production.

According to the complaint, Satwinder was producing a Punjabi film titled Travel Agent, featuring actors Gulshan Grover and Guggu Gill in key roles. The film’s mahurat had earlier been held in Mumbai by late legendary actor Dharmendra.

Satwinder told the police that work on the film had remained stalled for some time. During this period, he came in contact with Gurprem Singh, who assured him that he could facilitate the film’s release on ZEE5 after its completion.

Trusting the assurance, the complainant allegedly entered into a deal with Gurprem around five months ago and paid him ₹12 lakh. However, Satwinder alleged that after receiving the money, Gurprem stopped responding to his calls and messages and failed to fulfil his promise regarding the film’s release on the OTT platform.

After making repeated attempts to contact him, the producer approached the police and accused Gurprem of cheating him of ₹12 lakh.

The Dugri police conducted an inquiry into the complaint before registering a case against Gurprem Singh under the relevant provisions pertaining to cheating.

Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Rajinder Singh, who is investigating the case, stated that an FIR under Sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust) and 318(2) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been registered against the accused.

He added that the allegations are being investigated and further action will be taken on the basis of the evidence collected during the probe.