The Ludhiana police have arrested four persons, including a Punjab home guard personnel, for allegedly impersonating CIA officials and extorting money from people by threatening to implicate them in criminal cases.
According to police, the gang had reportedly targeted at least 10 people over the past fortnight, posing as police personnel and demanding money to let them go.
The accused have been identified as Parminder Singh, 29, a serving state home guard personnel from Anand Nagar, Khanna; Gurwinder Singh, 50, a farmer from Rahon village, Khanna; Surinderpal Singh, 50, a farmer and sarpanch from Sangatpura village, Samrala; and Ajit Kumar, 34, a caterer from Giaspura. They were all arrested from Giaspura.
Deputy commissioner of police (investigation) Harpal Singh said, “The police received information that the accused were moving around in a car wearing khaki trousers, coats and turbans to impersonate CIA personnel. They would approach people, threaten to implicate them in criminal cases and extort money from them. Acting on the information, CIA staff 2 traced the suspects and arrested them from Giaspura.”
“During the investigation, it was discovered that Ajit Kumar worked as an informer for the gang, identifying potential targets and alerting his associates so they could approach and extort money from them,” the DCP added.
{{/usCountry}}“During the investigation, it was discovered that Ajit Kumar worked as an informer for the gang, identifying potential targets and alerting his associates so they could approach and extort money from them,” the DCP added.
{{/usCountry}}Inspector Navdeep Singh said the gang generally targeted people suspected of involvement in illegal activities. “In one such instance, the accused targeted a dhaba owner who was illegally serving liquor at his establishment. They made him sit in their car on the pretext of taking him to the CIA office for registration of a case and extorted money from him before letting him go,” the inspector said, adding that the gang reportedly used similar tactics to extort money from at least 10 people in the past fortnight.
Police suspect the home guard personnel to be the gang’s kingpin.
“He was deputed for security duty at a public sector bank but had reportedly remained absent from duty for a prolonged period,” said the inspector.
“The police are questioning the accused to identify other victims and ascertain the total amount extorted. Further investigation is underway,” the DSP said.