12-05-2025
Batala businessman jailed after faking attack, extortion to get police protection
Batala: In a plot straight out of a Bollywood thriller, a wealthy Batala businessman's audacious plan to secure police protection backfired, landing him in jail. The businessman not only orchestrated a fake attack on himself, but also fabricated a claim by a fake gangster on social media to deceive the police, mimicking the recent attacks on the police posts where gangsters took the Singh alias Vicky, the owner of glitzy 'Fashion London' showroom and a resident of New Top City Colony, Batala, had complained to the police about receiving multiple extortion calls demanding Rs 50 lakh, allegedly from gangster Dharma the evening of April 29, unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants fired shots at the shutter of his showroom.
Vicky survived the attack, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Suhail Qasim Mir informed on Monday. Meanwhile, a Facebook user under the name 'Dharma Sandhu' claimed responsibility for the attack, adding an unexpected twist to the further details, the SSP informed that investigations uncovered a conspiracy involving Varinder Singh, the showroom owner, his UK-based relative Ranjodh Singh alias Jodha, and their associate Vishaldeep Singh, a Canada resident originally from Bhinder village. Together, they hatched a plan to stage a fake extortion and attack in order to convince the police to provide Varinder Singh with security execute the staged shooting, Vishaldeep arranged for a shooting module comprising three persons – Rajbir Singh, a resident of Amritsar; and Balwinder Singh alias Rahul Sekhon and Sukhsahijpreet Singh, both residents of Tarn Taran. The shooting module was promised Rs 50,000 for the job, said the .32 bore pistol used in the staged attack was arranged by Vishaldeep, allegedly sourced from an unidentified youth near Golden Gate, Amritsar, the police to the investigations, Varinder Singh intentionally kept his showroom open that night to ensure the plan went smoothly. Communication records further revealed that Vishaldeep was in constant touch with the shooters, even calling to tell them that Varinder was waiting outside the showroom, said the 9:48 pm, shots were fired at the shutter of the showroom — the climax of the staged attack, he said. However, the investigations revealed that the shooters received only Rs 3,500 of the promised Rs 50, informed that the extortion call Varinder Singh reported, supposedly from gangster Dharma Sandhu, was actually made by his UK-based relative, Ranjodh Singh alias Jodha, using Sandhu's name and ID. Following the staged incident, Varinder sent Rs 26,000 worth of clothing to Ranjodh and paid Rs 12,000 in courier charges — a payment for orchestrating the the trio of shooters, police have arrested Vicky, the showroom owner, and Gurpreet Singh and Gurmej Singh, said the 121110465 413 |
