After 'Goldy Brar', 'Landa Harike' calling residents seeking extortion

Mahesh Sharma

Mandi Ahmedgarh / Raikot November 4

After fugitive Goldy Brar, it is now gangster Lakhbir Singh alias Landa Harike who is suspected of using WhatsApp calls and voice messages to extort money from people residing in the districts of Ludhiana and Malerkotla.

While the exact number of people to have received the threat calls is yet to be ascertained, three cases have been registered at the Dehlon and Ahmedgarh police station. These cases have been lodged against an unknown caller, for demanding ransom ranging between Rs 30 lakh to Rs 2 crore. Though the police have not disclosed the outcome of their preliminary investigation, the suspect seems to have targeted people on the basis of their financial capacity. Investigating officers confirmed having received formal complaints from victims regarding multiple threat calls and voice messages on seperate days.

“We have initiated a probe and will take further action after the origin of these calls is established. Meanwhile, we have advised the complainants to be mindful and contact us in case they require any immediate help,” said Dehlon SHO Paramdeep Singh. He is investigating the case lodged by Nirmal Singh, an owner of a restaurant and a resort in the area. Singh had received multiple WhatsApp calls and voice messages from a caller, who demanded Rs 1 to Rs 2 crore on different days and claimed to be Landa Harike. Singh is a senior leader of Congress and the Sarpanch of Dehlon village. He usually travels to foreign countries to meet his friends and relatives.

Perusal of the records at Ahmedgarh City police station revealed that Jodha Ram Verma, a financier and Shiv Kumar a trader received similar threats from the same caller, different numbers. Jodha had been asked to pay Rs 30 lakh in order to save his life, while Shiv Kumar stated that he could not hear the exact amount demanded by the caller, who was posing as Landa Harike.

In all these cases, the suspects addressed the targets as ‘Uncle,’ following the typical dialect of the Majha region. He suggested confirming his identity by matching it to his voice on YouTube. Links of captioned YouTube interviews of Landa Harike were also sent to the targets.

Earlier this year shortly after returning from a cultural tour of the United Kingdom in July, religious leader and fortune teller Jatinder Sharma alias Happy Baba, and his close associate Balkar Ankhila, received a death threat from the Canada based fugitive gangster Goldy Brar.

The who claimed to be a close associate of Goldy Brar had threatened to eliminate them if they failed to pay the Rs 50 lakh ransom. Though the identity of the caller or his accomplice, if any, could not be ascertained during investigation, the Cyber Crime Cell had found the call to have originated from a Pakistan based number.

Baba is among the protectees of the state police and his name figured in the list of protectees whose security was withdrawn before Sidhu’s Moosewala’ murder.

A journalist from Sudhar, Santokh Singh Gill, also received a threatening WhatsApp call on his associate’s phone about eleven months ago, on December 11, 2022. The complaint lodged by him with the Ludhiana (Rural) SSP is being probed, under supervision of the Special DGP Arpit Shukla, but origin of the call is yet to be ascertained. General Secretary Indian Journalists Union Balwinder Jammu said Shukla had assured him that the case of Gill would be solved soon.

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