Ludhiana:Out on parole, man held for forging village sarpanch’s stamp

The arrest came after an FIR was filed by the Sadar Jagraon police on the complaint of Jaswinder Kaur, the sarpanch of Akhara village

A man, convicted of drug peddling and out on parole, was arrested by Sadar Jagraon police for allegedly forging stamp and signature of a village sarpanch on multiple occasions.

An FIR was lodged against him under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 472 (making or possessing counterfeit seal, etc., with intent to commit forgery) of the Indian Penal Code. (iStock)

The accused, identified as Ranjit Singh alias Kaka, hails from Akhara village. The arrest came after an FIR was filed by the Sadar Jagraon police on the complaint of Jaswinder Kaur, the sarpanch of Akhara village.

Kaur said that the accused had previously been arrested by the police for smuggling poppy husk. He was subsequently convicted by a court and sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. He was out on parole.

The complainant said that she discovered that her stamp and signatures had been forged by him on various documents. The sarpanch filed a complaint against the accused.

Sub-inspector Jugraj Singh, who is investigating the case, revealed that the accused, who was out on parole, was required to return to jail on September 22.

An FIR was lodged against him under sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 472 (making or possessing counterfeit seal, etc., with intent to commit forgery) of the Indian Penal Code.

The sub-inspector said that the police recovered the forged stamp of the sarpanch from the accused. He said that the accused, along with an aide who had passed away six months ago, had created the forged stamp. The police are currently interrogating the accused to determine the extent to which he misused the sarpanch’s stamp and signature.