Impersonation by Gang: Suspects held by Vigilance Bureau also duped Haryana family of Rs 52 lakh

Tribune News Service

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Ludhiana, March 9

After the Vigilance Bureau (VB), Ludhiana, busted a gang involved in looting people by posing as Vigilance and CBI officials, their questioning led to disclosures that the gang had also looted a family, dealing in tour and travel business, of Haryana by posing as CBI officials. Five members of the gang have been nabbed by the VB so far. One of them is on the run.

The gang had conducted a raid at Pehowa, Haryana, and extorted Rs 52 lakh from the victims last year.

The SSP, Vigilance Bureau, Ravinderpal Singh Sandhu, confirmed to The Tribune that during questioning of the suspect, Pinder Sodhi, arrested on February 29, he disclosed that their gang also committed a loot in Haryana by impersonating as officers of the premier investigating agency of the country.

After their disclosures, the victims cheated by the suspects also approached the Haryana Police and after recording their statements, the Haryana Police had also registered a case against them on March 7. Now, Haryana Police officials have confirmed that they would bring the suspects on production warrant.

Sarabjit Rinku, a resident of Pehowa, said today that on June 6, 2023, four suspects, namely Paramjit, Manjit, Pinder and Parminder, came in a Toyota Corolla vehicle and barged into their house. Posing as CBI officials, they first snatched mobiles of his parents.

“My father and mother were present at home. They asked my father to hand over black money, which he recently got by selling a land. When they failed to extort money from my father, the suspects took him in their car and went towards the Ambala highway where I also reached. They took Rs 10 lakh lying in my car and also encashed Rs 10 lakh cheque from bank. A sum of Rs 21 lakh was got transferred in their bank account by them. On June 19, they again came to our house and got transferred Rs 10 lakh in their account. I gave Rs 1 lakh to them at a court in Chandigarh. I met Pooja Rani, another suspect, at the court where she was introduced by other suspects as senior CBI officer,” the complainant alleged.

He said on February 29 when the Ludhiana VB nabbed Pinder Sodhi, one of their relatives staying in Punjab informed him and he reached Ludhiana to meet the Vigilance SSP Ravinderpal Sandhu and in the presence of the official, he identified Pinder. He even identified Pooja Rani from pictures shown to him. She was also arrested later.

The complainant said he also told the name of their neighbour to the Haryana Police as he was aware that his father had sold some land worth lakhs and he might have connived with the suspects to conduct a fake CBI raid at their home.

Asi ta sirf Modi to darde Haan, said suspect Pinder

Complainant Sarabjit said at one point when he got suspicious that the suspects might be fake CBI officers, he started making videos of them and on this, Pinder Sodhi said: “Make videos or click our photographs, we don’t have any fear.” He said: “Asi ta sirf Modi to darde Haan”(We are afraid of Modi only), afterwards, he again got convinced that they could be CBI officers only.

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