Punjab: Woman suspected to be kingpin of extortion gang arrested after seven weeks

Punjab: A woman, believed to be the leader of a gang that extorted money from a man from Purani Abadi in Sri Ganganagar about seven weeks ago, has been arrested from Tappa Kheda village near Malot. The police produced her in court, from where she was sent to judicial custody. The victim Mukesh, who works as a manager in a bank in Malot, had lodged a complaint in this regard at the Sadar police station in Sri Ganganagar on August 27. A case was registered against the accused on charges of blackmailing. Since then, Jaspreet Kaur, a resident of Odki under Hindumalkot police station, was absconding. Police said that other accused in this case, Pal Singh, Sonu and Kirandeep Kaur, have already been arrested and are in judicial custody.

During the investigation, it was revealed that Jaspreet, the leader of the gang, used to keep different names. Mukesh said that he used to go to the bank by train from Sri Ganganagar in the morning and return by train late in the evening. One day when he reached Sri Ganganagar by train at night, it was raining heavily. He boarded an auto rickshaw for his home. A woman in the same vehicle, who introduced herself as Rajni, took his mobile phone number to discuss the loan process. A few days later, she asked him to come to her house in Bapunagar for further discussion. On reaching there, some people caught hold of him and started demanding Rs 2 lakh, threatening to file a rape case against him. They allegedly forced him to pay Rs 74,000. They asked him to arrange the remaining amount in four days, failing which he would have to face consequences. Mukesh reported the matter to the police. After investigation, three suspects were arrested, but Jaspreet Kaur managed to escape at that time.