Gang posing as police busted for Rs 19 lakh extortion in Jind

In a major breakthrough, Jind Police have busted an extortion racket involving a woman impersonating a Station House Officer (SHO) and her accomplices. The gang had extorted Rs 19 lakh from a man by threatening to falsely implicate him in a rape case.

According to the police, on April 16, Anoop Kumar, a resident of Badanpur village, filed a complaint alleging that he had been blackmailed and robbed by a group led by a woman he knew, identified as Reena from Dhanoda Khurd village.

Anoop told the police that on April 15, while he was riding a motorcycle with Reena, they were intercepted near the Railway Overbridge by a group in a car. The duo was forced into the vehicle, after which Reena was dropped off at a nearby location.

Inside the car, a woman pretending to be an SHO, along with her accomplices, physically assaulted Anoop and demanded Rs 20 lakh, threatening to book him in a fabricated rape case. Fearing arrest and social stigma, Anoop arranged Rs 19 lakh through a commission agent and withdrew the amount from a Narwana bank. He handed the money to the accused, who then abandoned him at Apollo Chowk and fled the scene.

After receiving the complaint, Narwana DSP Amit Bhatia and CIA incharge Sukhdev Singh launched an investigation. The police traced the vehicle used in the crime and managed to arrest the entire gang.

The accused were identified as Sukhvinder, Sandeep, Anil alias Neel, Manjeet Dhillon, and Reena. Police also recovered the entire Rs 19 lakh in cash and the car used during the incident.

According to a police spokesperson, Sukhvinder has three prior criminal cases including attempted murder and charges under the Arms Act, while Sandeep has been involved in several cases related to attempted murder, assault, criminal intimidation, and human trafficking.

“The accused have confessed not only to this extortion but also to three other similar crimes,” said the police.