Ludhiana:
A lineman from Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) was allegedly honey trapped and blackmailed by some PSPCL staff members, their families, and associates.
According to the police, the accused had recorded an inappropriate video of the lineman and used it to extort a total of Rs 65.45 lakh, including his salary and provident fund savings.
After the matter came to light, the Division number 7 police arrested PSPCL Junior Engineer (JE) Daler Singh and his aides including Satinder Singh alias Sonu of Brown Road, Ram Singh Thapa and Thapa’s daughter Mitchel Thapa.
According to the police, other accused identified as Daler’s daughter Amandeep Kaur, Satinder’s brother Parminder Singh, former JE Lovepreet Singh and Ishdeep Singh are at large.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Prabhjot Singh Virk said that the lineman Jadgish Singh Negi had retired a few months ago and after his retirement when family inquired about his retirement benefits, Jagdish had narrated the entire matter of being blackmailed following which the Jagdish’s son lodged a complaint and the matter came to light.
As per the complaint, Jagdish was deputed at PSPCL’s Dhandari Kalan office where Lovepreet joined in around 2014.
As Jagdish’s wife had passed away in 2011, Lovepreet allegedly persuaded Jagdish to establish physical relations with a woman at office quarters and in 2016 Lovepreet recorded the video of Jagdish in a compromising situation with the woman. Later, Lovepreet left the job and used the video to exploit Jagdish Singh.
ADCP said that Lovepreet had circulated the video to Satinder Singh as well as Daler Singh and they started extorting money from Jagdish. “The accused extorted salaries, provident funds, and even obtained the property registry, blank stamp papers, and blank cheques from the victim. Between 2018 and 2024, they allegedly transferred funds from his accounts to theirs, totaling Rs 65.45 lakh,” informed ADCP.
ADCP said that now after receiving the complaint the police have arrested four of the accused and recovered Rs 18.7 lakh from Satinder Singh’s bank account, gold worth Rs 20 lakh, silver jewelry, and three expensive phones from the accused. “A case under sections 384, 420, 467, 468, 471, 506, 120B of IPC has been registered against the accused Division number 7 police station and a manhunt has been launched to arrest other accused,” he said.
ADCP added that besides this scam, Police found that Satinder Singh and his brother Parminder Singh were previously involved in a land fraud scheme. They created fake letterheads and stamps of Tata Steel and duped people by pretending to buy their lands at inflated prices.