Unemployed youth held for extortion threats in Goldy Brar’s name

In the wake of the rising fear following the July 7 murder of Abohar-based businessman and tailor Sanjay Verma, not just gangsters or their aides, but even unemployed youths, posing as gangsters, are now trying to cash in on the extortion scare.

The Muktsar district police today claimed to have arrested a youth who impersonated Canada-based terrorist Goldy Brar to extort money from people. The accused, Jaspreet Singh, of Lakkarwala village here, allegedly demanded Rs 5 lakh from a teacher at the same government school he once attended.

Malout DSP Iqbal Singh said Jaspreet had no links to any gang, but had made similar threatening calls to five others. “He confessed to faking the calls due to financial stress and unemployment. He used a mobile app to spoof international numbers and create fear. With the help of technical and cyber teams, we were able to trace and arrest him within 24 hours. We will now verify whether anyone else was involved in the crime,” the DSP claimed.

The case came to light after Parminder Singh, a computer teacher at Government High School, Lakkarwala, lodged a complaint on Wednesday. He said he received a message and threatening calls from a man claiming to be Goldy Brar from Surrey, Canada, demanding Rs 5 lakh. A case was registered at the Lakhewali police station.

The police believe the Sanjay Verma murder case, which shook the region and triggered a spate of extortion threats, may have emboldened not just real criminals but also opportunists.

“Such cyber frauds and scare tactics by impersonating gangsters will not be tolerated. The district police are working systematically to crack down on such miscreants. Arresting fraudsters like Jaspreet is our priority,” said the DSP.