Extortion racket being run from jail busted

Extortion racket being run from jail busted

Tribune News Service

Moga, June 17

The Moga police busted an extortion racket which was being operated from the high-security Sangrur jail, SSP Harmanbir Singh Gill said here today.

He said a youth, Navdeep Singh, a resident of Jhanjiyaan village in Ferozepur district, who was arrested on Tuesday, had confessed that he made an extortion call to a garment trader in the Bagahapurana town of Moga district last week. The police had also recovered a country-made pistol from him.

During interrogation, Navdeep confessed that he and his two associates, identified as Maghar Singh and Babbi Singh, both residents of Barnala district, opened fire in the air, called Baghapurana trader Ajay Kumar and demanded a sum of Rs 10 lakh from him. They also threatened to kill him.

They were operating on the directions of a gangster Kirpal Singh, who is lodged in the Sangrur jail. The SSP said the police had brought Kirpal Singh on a production warrant from the Sangrur jail. Efforts were underway to nab Maghar Singh and Babbi Singh, Gill added.