E-Paper
Ludhiana school owner gets extortion threat from fugitive gangster
Complainant says accused has demanded a large sum of money and warned that he and his father would be killed if the demand was not met
A private school owner received an extortion threat allegedly from fugitive gangster Doni Bal, triggering registration of an FIR on Saturday, police said. In his complaint, Navjot Singh of Ladian Khurd village, who runs a private school, stated that his father Harminder Singh received a call from an international number. The caller allegedly identified himself as Doni Bal. The family disconnected the call immediately but later received threatening messages from the same number.
Navjot Singh alleged that the accused demanded a large sum of money and warned that he and his father would be killed if the demand was not met. The threatening messages further claimed that they would be targeted whenever they step out of their house. He said similar calls and messages were received repeatedly, prompting them to approach the police.
Acting on the complaint, the Haibowal police registered a case against unidentified persons under Sections 308(2) (extortion) and 351 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). An investigating officer said a probe has been initiated and efforts are on to trace the source of the calls and messages.
Doni Bal is a known gangster linked to the Devinder Bambiha group and the crime network of Gopi Ghanshampuria. He has previously claimed responsibility for several high-profile killings and has been accused of running extortion rackets across different parts of Punjab.
This is the second such case of extortion call received by a city resident in the past two days. Earlier, A 43-year-old man from Baba Nand Singh Nagar in Ayali Kalan had approached the Sarabha Nagar police after receiving an extortion call from an unidentified person who claimed links with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. The caller allegedly demanded ₹1 crore and threatened to kill members of the family if the money was not paid. The Sarabha Nagar police had registered an FIR against unidentified accused on February 13.
