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Punjab VB arrests trio from Nabha for extorting ₹1.5 lakh from registry clerk

Property agent, his two accomplices were blackmailing govt official; Vigilance Bureau team laid trap and caught accused accepting second instalment of extortion amount

Published on: Jan 9, 2023, 18:07:18 IST
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The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has arrested three residents of Nabha for blackmailing a government official with the motive of extorting ₹1.5 lakh.

Property agent, his two accomplices were blackmailing a government official. Vigilance Bureau team laid trap and caught accused accepting second instalment of extortion amount (Representational image)
Property agent, his two accomplices were blackmailing a government official. Vigilance Bureau team laid trap and caught accused accepting second instalment of extortion amount (Representational image)

A VB spokesperson said in Patiala on Monday that property agent Umardeen, his accomplice Saleem and a reporter of private channel Rupinder Kumar, alias Dimple, all residents of Nabha, were arrested on the complaint of registry clerk, Nabha tehsil, Rupinder Singh, a resident of Patiala.

The complainant accused Umardeen and his accomplices of blackmailing him and demanding ₹5 lakh for not lodging a false complaint with the VB and sharing a misleading video of him accepting ₹500 on social media. The complainant clarified that he had not received any bribe during the registry in which Umardeen was witness but was taking back ₹500 in lieu of exchange of notes handed over to a person.

The accused shot the video with his mobile phone with the intention of extorting money from him. The complainant claimed that Umardeen had already taken ₹50,000 from him as a first instalment and the deal was struck for ₹2.5 lakh.

After probing the complaint, a VB flying squad team laid a trap and caught Umardeen accepting ₹1.5 lakh from the complainant as a second instalment of the deal in the presence of two witnesses. The VB team also recovered ₹40,000 of the ₹50,000 he had taken earlier from the complainant as the first instalment. Subsequently, the other co-accused Saleem and Rupinder Kumar were arrested.

A case was registered under Sections 419, 420, 384, 120-B of IPC and Section 8 of Prevention of Corruption Act at the VB police station in Mohali on Sunday.

  • Vishal Rambani
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Vishal Rambani

    Vishal Rambani is Assistant Editor at Hindustan Times, covering Punjab's political, governance and public policy landscape. With more than two decades of journalistic experience, he has extensively reported on politics, power and energy, crime, bureaucracy, environment, urban development and socio-economic issues. His reporting combines ground-level coverage with data-driven and investigative journalism, producing impactful stories on governance, regulatory affairs, corruption, public finance, elections and infrastructure. Over the years, he has broken several exclusive stories involving enforcement agencies, the power sector, real estate, and state administration, earning recognition for incisive reporting, accuracy and in-depth analysis of Punjab's evolving political and administrative landscape.Read More