3 booked for Rs 33.75 lakh fraud

Bathinda, November 22

A couple from Patiala and another individual have been booked for duping two families of Rs 33.75 lakh for getting them work permits in New Zealand.

One of the families is from Bathinda while the other is from Sangrur. The victims had lodged a complaint at the SSP office on September 19, 2016.

A case has been registered against Ranbeer Singh, his wife Gurpreet Kaur, and Ranbeer’s nephew Mandeep Singh, all residents of Patiala, under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC at the Canal Colony police station.

The investigation was conducted by the economic offences wing of the Bathinda police.

None of the accused has been arrested yet. The police are now conducting raids to nab them.

In his complaint, Manminder Singh, a resident of Harbans Nagar, Bathinda, said he had done ITI diploma and IELTS.

He came in contact with the accused couple through his brother-in-law Nirbhai Singh, a resident of Dhuri.

He alleged that the couple offered him work permit in New Zealand in January 2016 and the deal was finalised in Rs 15.60 lakh, which he gave in three instalments.

However, after making the payment, he found their office in Patiala locked and their mobile phones switched off.

Manminder said he handed over the third instalment of Rs 3 lakh at the Dabwali road, Bathinda, to the couple and their nephew Mandeep Singh.

Later, in Patiala, Manminder met Harpreet Singh, a resident of Dhandiwal village in Sangrur district, who too was duped by them of Rs 18.15 lakh. The couple also offered him work permit in New Zealand, but never sent him abroad. — TNS