Three arrested for extortion in Jalalabad

Our Correspondent

Fazilka, March 3

In all, six persons were booked for allegedly blackmailing and extorting a man in Jalalabad town. Out of them, the police have arrested three persons.

The accused have been identified as Kajal, her accomplices Sheela Rani, Chhinder Singh, Gagandeep Kaur, Harpreet Singh and Pankaj. Out of them, the former three have been held.

Victim Raj Kumar, a resident of Chack Nidhan village of Guruharsahai subdivision, said he had known one Kajal, a resident of Amir Khas village in Jalalabad subdivision, for the last few months. He said Kajal had asked him to help get her brother, Akashdeep Singh, admitted in a college. For the same, he paid for her brother’s fees.

After few days, when Kumar asked the girl to return the amount, Kajal allegedly threatened to frame him in a case of rape with the help of her companions.

Kumar alleged that Kajal and her accomplices pressurised him to resolve the issue, and to do so they summoned him to an advocate’s chamber in Jalalabad court on February 27. On reaching the designated place, Kajal, her aides and lawyer Harpreet Singh, also a scribe with a vernacular daily, forced him into submission by threatening to falsely implicate him in a rape case. Subsequently, Kumar agreed to pay Rs2.5 lakh on March 2.

Meanwhile, journalist Harpreet Singh and some other persons were arrested by the police in another blackmailing and extortion case on February 29.

After Harpreet Singh had been nabbed, Kumar informed the police about the incident.