Extortion plot cracked, two women among four held

What began as a routine extortion complaint unravelled into a web of betrayal, foreign links and a family conspiracy. Commissionerate Police Amritsar on Friday announced the arrest of four individuals — including close relatives of the complainant — who allegedly plotted to extort Rs 50 lakh from a city landlord using a Dubai-based phone number.

Those arrested were identified as Harjinder Singh, alias Jindu (30), a resident of Kanwan village, Moga; Jaspreet Singh, alias Baba (22), a resident of Manochahal village in Tarn Taran; Jasleen Kaur (27), a resident of Jandoli village in Hoshiarpur; and Sandeep Kaur (34), a resident of Kadrabad village here.

The investigation was initiated after the complainant received a series of intimidating calls demanding money. The caller, confident and ruthless, claimed to be operating from abroad. But the trail soon led the police to a different reality.

The first breakthrough came with the arrest of Harjinder Singh, who recently returned from Dubai, and Jasleen Kaur from Hoshiarpur. The police discovered that a Dubai SIM registered in Harjinder’s name was being used for the threat calls — but the WhatsApp linked to the number was operating right here in India, allegedly by Jasleen.

As interrogations deepened, the case took a dramatic turn. Investigators zeroed in on Jaspreet Singh, alias Baba, a relative of the complainant. His arrest exposed the unsuspected family involvement. The police revealed that Harjinder, Jaspreet and a Dubai-based associate Vishal had once worked together abroad — a past connection that later evolved into a criminal alliance.

Before returning to India, Harjinder is said to have handed over his Dubai SIM to Vishal, who then passed it to Jaspreet. The same number, believed to be safely outside the reach of the Indian authorities, was used to issue chilling extortion threats.

But the most shocking twist was still to come. During further investigation, the police arrested Jaspreet’s cousin — and finally the alleged mastermind Sandeep Kaur, the complainant’s wife’s sister-in-law (bhabi). According to the police, Sandeep conducted recces and designed the plot after learning that the complainant’s family had recently sold land and kept large sum of cash at home.