Rs 50L extortion case: Gangster Kuldeep Kumar brought on production warrant from Bathinda jail

A day after the Ludhiana police brought A-Category gangster Amrik Singh, alias Vicky Marado, on production warrant from a Hoshiarpur jail in connection with the Rs 50-lakh extortion call made to Rajguru Nagar resident Manjit Singh, owner of a tour and travel firm, the police on Thursday brought another notorious gangster Kuldeep Kumar, alias Sunny Nai, a resident of Ludhiana, on production warrant from a Bathinda jail. Sunny is believed to have made the extortion call to Manjit.

Earlier, the FIR regarding the extortion case was registered against unidentified persons on July 16 at the Sadar police station. As per the FIR, the complainant alleged that between May 31 and June 8, he received multiple threatening calls from international numbers and the caller identifying himself as gangster Gopi Lahoria had initially demanded Rs 50 lakh as extortion money. When the complainant did not pay the same, the former reduced the demand to Rs 10 lakh. The caller had threatened to harm the complainant and his family if the money was not paid. Since gangster Marado was also booked in the case, now Sunny was also nominated in it. In further probe, the police also want to inquire if Sunny and Marado were also in touch, despite lodged in separate jails, to carry out extortions or other crimes.

ADCP (Investigation) Amandeep Singh Brar said Sunny was brought from the Bathinda jail as his role was being suspected behind the Rs 50-lakh extortion call to the Rajguru resident. “Now, a two-day police remand of the suspect was obtained from court for the questioning of the gangster. The police will inquire if he made a call to the resident to extort Rs 50 lakh. The police will also check if Sunny and Marado are in touch from separate jails,” Brar said.

The ADCP revealed that Sunny had been facing around 12 heinous crimes, including the murder of Rinkle Khera, a BJP worker, on June 19, 2019, attempt to murders and Rs 5.80-lakh loot.

As per the police, Sunny is said to be the aide of Khalistani terrorist Harinder Singh Rinda, who is reportedly staying in Pakistan, and at Rinda’s behest, he, along with his aide, attempted to blow the Ropar police post and after his arrest in April 2022, the police had also seized a tiffin bomb hidden by them in an abandoned well near their hideout in Una district of HP. The police had shared the information after his arrest in the blast case.