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Ludhiana: VB nabs key woman member of swindlers’ gang
During investigation, the VB found that the accused had extorted ₹52 lakh from one family of Pehowa village in Haryana in June 2023 after conducting a raid at their premises by impersonating themselves as CBI officers
The Punjab vigilance bureau (VB) has arrested a woman, who is one of the key members of a swindlers’ gang involved in duping people, extorting money from them by impersonating as vigilance and CBI officials.
The woman, identified as Pooja Rani, is wife of one of the gang members Hardeep Singh of Khamano of Fatehgarh Sahib, who is still on the run. Five members of the gang, including the woman, have been arrested till now.
During investigation, the VB found that the accused had extorted ₹52 lakh from one family of Pehowa village in Haryana in June 2023 after conducting a raid at their premises by impersonating themselves as CBI officers.
An official spokesperson of the VB said that Rani was arrested while she was travelling in a taxi near Ladhowal toll plaza, Ludhiana. The VB team has recovered two mobile phones and some important documents related to the case from her possession. Her name popped up during questioning of Pinder Sodhi, one of the key accused of the gang. Sodhi was arrested by the vigilance bureau on February 29.
A total of five accused, including Pooja Rani, Pinder Sodhi, Manjeet Singh, Paramjeet Singh of Mehlon village of Samrala and Parminder Singh, a resident of Akash Colony, Hoshiarpur have been arrested so far. All the accused except Rani have been lodged in jail on judicial remand.
According to the spokesperson, the accused were arrested for getting two cheques amounting to ₹25 lakh from a farmer by threatening him to be involved in a false case by posing as vigilance officials from the Chandigarh office.
He said that this case was registered by complainant Palwinder Singh, a resident of Bhaini Salu village, police station Koom Kalan. The complainant had informed that he had sold 18 acres of his ancestral land. Thereafter, he received a notice regarding the sale of panchayat land, following which, three unknown persons came to his house on August 12, 2023, and introduced themselves as officers from the vigilance department at Sector-17, Chandigarh.
The complainant alleged that they demanded ₹50 lakhs from him to sort out the matter of selling panchayat land, claiming that an inquiry was pending at the Chandigarh office, otherwise, a fraud case would be registered against him. The complainant agreed to pay ₹25 lakh, and the accused convinced him to sign two cheques of ₹15 lakhs and ₹10 lakhs with a guarantee to return them once they received ₹25 lakhs in cash. He further added that one of the accused had also took ₹27,000 and went away after getting his phone number.
The spokesperson informed that thereafter, the complainant had received threatening calls on his WhatsApp about registration of a criminal case against him if he failed to give the promised ₹25 lakhs in cash. In this regard, a case under sections 7, 7-A of the Prevention of Corruption Act and 384, 120-B of the IPC was registered at VB police station, Ludhiana range, on August 28, 2023.
He further revealed that Sodhi has made certain disclosures about the gang’s modus operandi to cheat different people as well as complainant of this case and with regard to the involvement of Rani, who was staying in Delhi along with her husband since the crime took place.
