5 arrested for Rs 50L extortion call to sarpanch

TNN Ludhiana: Samrala police on Wednesday claimed to have solved an extortion case with the arrest of five members of a gang which allegedly demanded Rs 50 lakh from a village sarpanch.DSP (Samrala) Pritpal Singh said that on April 18, Baljit Singh, a resident of Manjali Kalan village in Samrala, received a threat call on his mobile phone. The caller demanded Rs 50 lakh and threatened to kill him if the demand was not met. Police registered a case and launched a probe. They arrested Nirmal Singh and Rani of Chhota Surtanpur in Chamkaur Sahib. During questioning, it was found that Nirmal gave a SIM card and mobile phone registered in his name to Kaku, a resident of Mohalla Harkrishan Vihar in Ludhiana. He was also arrested.Kaku revealed that he had passed on the phone and SIM to Sharif Ali, a resident of Bandewala village in Ropar district, and Hardeep Singh of Manjali Kalan village. Police said Sharif Ali and Hardeep Singh were involved in the extortion call and threats issued to Baljit Singh. They were arrested and named as accused. DSP Singh said that Sharif Ali and Hardeep Singh are also suspected to be involved in a firing incident at a commission agent's shop in Payal grain market on April 14, 2026. Further investigation is on. In another case, a city-based car dealer allegedly received an extortion call from an international number. The caller demanded Rs 1 crore and issued death threats.The complainant, Rakesh Kumar, a resident of New Janta Nagar, told the police that he received the first such call on April 18. Police officials said the caller did not disclose his identity or claim affiliation with any gang.Police have registered a case under Section 308 (2) of BNS. Efforts to trace the caller's identity and location are on.The investigating officer said this is the first time the complainant received such a call and that he did not have known enmity with anyone.
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