Punjab: Extortion racket busted, six held

Police have busted an inter-district extortion racket with the arrest of six persons, officials said on Thursday.
Those arrested have been identified as Jobanpreet Singh, Rajesh Kumar, Jaskaran Gill, Barjesh Kumar Meshi, Buta Singh and Barkha Singh, all residents of Jalandhar district.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Harkamal Preet Singh Khakh said the accused had been operating across several districts, targeting people with well-orchestrated scams.
Khakh said the operation was initiated following a complaint by 65-year-old shopkeeper Narinder Singh of Sultanpur Lodhi, who said that he was being lured to a location in Saidpur Jhri on the pretext of providing labour for his business by the gang members.
“They accused him of a false crime, assaulted him and demanded ₹5 lakh, threatening him to ruin his reputation. They forcibly took ₹15,000, multiple ATM cards and made video recordings of the assault to intensify their threats,” Khakh said.
He added that the accused used same modus operandi to extort money from the gullible persons.
The accused were booked for extortion, assault and criminal conspiracy. “The gang had extorted money from other victims across districts using fake phone calls,” he said.