‘ASI posed as DIG, head constable as SP’: How a gang of 6 ‘abducted’ three bizmen from Noida, attempted to extort Rs 10 crore

On the intervening night of September 15 and 16, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Kuldeep Singh and head constable Balwinder Singh, along with four accomplices, allegedly reached Noida, conducted a bogus raid while introducing themselves as senior police officers from Punjab, abducted the businessmen and demanded Rs 10 crore from their families as “settlement” for their release, as per an FIR registered at Khanna Cyber Crime police station.

When the negotiations over the extortion amount failed, the Noida trio was brought to Khanna’s cyber police station, and the two Punjab police personnel allegedly asked the Khanna Police to register an FIR against them claiming they were habitual cyber fraudsters and were running a fake call centre in Noida.

Balwinder also allegedly snatched the iPhone, Apple watch and other valuables from the victims, according to the FIR.

While ASI Kuldeep Singh is posted at Government Railway Police Station (GRP) in Pathankot, head constable Balwinder Singh is attached as gunman with Faridkot SP (investigation) Sandeep Wadhera.

However, according to the FIR, Balwinder during the bogus raid introduced himself as Superintendent of Police (SP), while Kuldeep posed as Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG). An accomplice Gagandeep Singh alias Apple posed as Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).

“Balwinder also handed over his service weapon to another accomplice Karandeep Singh who posed as his gunman,” according to the FIR.

The FIR has been registered on the complaint of sub-inspector Narpinder Pal Singh, in-charge Cyber Crime Cell, Khanna Police.

According to the FIR, on the evening of September 16, the three men from Noida — Tarun Aggarwal and Herat Shah (natives of Gujarat) and Thurai Raj (native of Tamil Nadu) — were brought to the police station.

Balwinder claimed that the trio were “habitual cyber crime fraudsters and running a fake call centre in Noida” and asked Narpinder Pal to register a case against them.

However, when asked by Khanna Police if they had informed local police in Noida before detaining the three men, Balwinder allegedly said “no”. He also allegedly could not provide any basic evidence or satisfactory reply to what exactly was the offence committed by three men.

According to the FIR, when questioned, one of the abducted businessmen Tarun Aggarwal narrated how the gang introduced themselves as senior police officers from Punjab, threatened them, picked them up from Noida and drove them overnight to Ludhiana, before demanding Rs 10 crore from their families to release them.

Aggarwal in his statement, as mentioned in the FIR, told Khanna Police that the gang reached their Noida office around 10 pm on September 15 and four of them barged inside.

“Balwinder Singh introduced himself as SP, Gagandeep as DSP and Karandeep who was holding a weapon said that he was SP Balwinder’s gunman. The fourth unidentified man seized laptops and phones of our entire staff and ordered us to sit in the SUV. They said that a complaint against us was pending with Chandigarh Police,” said Aggarwal, as per the FIR.

Driving overnight, the gang then ferried the trio to Zimindar Dhaba in Sahnewal of Ludhiana around 4 am and started calling their families to pay money if they wanted them released.

As per the FIR, Aggarwal further said: “They then said that DIG has come and he will tell the final amount we have to pay. Kuldeep Singh introduced himself as DIG and they said we have to pay Rs 10 crore. My family told them over the phone that they don’t have this much money”.

Minutes later, Kuldeep Singh allegedly offered the trio to “settle the matter” for Rs 5 crore. After Aggarwal’s brother said they cannot pay this much, the amount was reduced to Rs 2 crore. However, Aggarwal’s family told them that they cannot pay more than Rs 10 lakh, says the FIR.

The trio was then taken to Ludhiana’s Sahnewal police station, where “Balwinder came out with some blank papers and offered to settle the matter for Rs 70 lakh,” read the FIR.

Aggarwal further said that Karandeep also snatched his phone and forcibly transferred cryptocurrency USDT 3650 and 999 (in two tranches) from his account”, amounting to Rs 4 lakh approximately.

“When I refused to share my account’s PIN, they slapped me. They also transferred gift cards worth Rs 1 lakh from the phone. Balwinder then snatched my iPhone and Apple Watch and kept it with him,” adds Aggarwal’s statement.

The gang then allegedly brought the Noida men to Khanna cyber crime police station, before the entire conspiracy unfolded.

Police said that ASI Kuldeep had accompanied the other gang members to Noida but did not enter the office during the “raid”. “He later returned to Ludhiana via cab and posed as DIG. All of them were in civil clothes but those posing as gunmen were made to wear black shirts,” said an officer investigating the matter.

Both the SUVs used in the crime — an MG Hector and Kia Seltos — belonged to Karandeep Singh, an old “acquaintance” of Balwinder who used to borrow the vehicles earlier too, said police.

“The three victims, including one from Tamil Nadu, were also facing language barriers and could not understand much of what the accused were discussing in Punjabi. They are into the business of digital cryptocurrency trading. It will be clear only after Balwinder and Kuldeep’s arrest why they went to Noida to pick them up,” said an officer.

Khanna DSP (investigation) Mohit Singla said: “We had no evidence or jurisdiction to book those three men. Still, we have written to the Noida police to check if the trio was involved in any illegal activity. Our own team was off to Gurgaon that day for another raid,” said the DSP.

The FIR against Kuldeep, Balwinder and four others — Karandeep Singh of Shimlapuri, Gagandeep Singh alias Apple of Jujhar Nagar, Mani of Giaspura — all three from Ludhiana, and one unknown accomplice has been registered under the sections 319 (cheating by personation), 140 (kidnapping), 3 (5) (criminal act done with common intention) and 318 (4) (cheating) of BNS. Both Gagandeep and Karandeep have previous criminal records, said police.

Contacted, Faridkot SP (investigation) Sandeep Wadhera: “Balwinder did not report for duty after September 10 citing some domestic issues. He is from India Reserve Battalion (IRB) and must have reported back to his battalion. The SIT must probe the case impartially.”

Meanwhile, Khanna SSP Jyoti Yadav has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by an SP-rank officer to probe the case.

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