Former DPI, son held for immigration fraud

Tribune News Service

Mohali, June 13

The local police have arrested a former DPI (Primary) and his son who, along with their US-based friend, were booked in an immigration fraud here.

The accused, Sadhu Singh Randhawa, who retired last year, had allegedly duped an employee of the Punjab Civil Secretariat, Harkamal Kaur, of Rs 75 lakh on the pretext of getting a permanent residency of Canada for her family. The police arrested Randhawa and his son, Ingreek Singh, last night from their Sector 40 residence in Chandigarh after registering a case under Sections 420, 406, 465, 468 and 471 of the IPC at the Phase VIII police station. Randhawa’s US-based friend, Alam Singh, has also been booked in the case.

According to Inspector Lakhwinder Singh, SHO of the Phase VIII police station, Randhawa met the victim in the Secretariat in 2012. “As the victim was interested in settling down in Canada with her family, Randhawa told her to invest money in a store in Canada to get the permanent residency of the country on its basis. He and his son received Rs 75 lakh from the victim and told her that the store had been opened and was being looked after by Alam Singh’s relative. Alam Singh, too, used to give a wrong feedback to the victim in this context,” said the SHO.

The fraud came to light when Harkamal applied for visa on the basis of her investment last year and got to know from the Canadian High Commission that no such store existed there.

On her complaint, a high-level inquiry was initiated at the Punjab ADGP level following which the police registered a case against the trio.

According to the police, Randhawa’s son, Injreek Singh, who had studied in the US, was unemployed. The accused were produced before local court today, which remanded them in three-day police custody.