ED summons Punjab police officer in ₹100 crore cyber fraud probe

The summons, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, stated that the proceedings are under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The notice read, “The attendance of Amanjot Kaur Sandhu Inspector [is] necessary to give evidence and for the production of records in connection with the investigation or proceeding under PMLA.”

The alleged cyber fraud case gained prominence after Inspector Amanjot Kaur wrote a letter to Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on August 28, alleging that influential individuals were involved in the scam and that the investigation should be transferred out of Mohali district. She demanded that the probe be handed over to either the State Cyber Cell or the Bureau of Investigation (BoI).

Following her letter, in September last year, DGP Gaurav Yadav constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) V Neerja, with Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dhanwant Kaur and Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Deepak Parekh as its members.

Earlier, the then SSP Mohali, Dr Sandeep Garg, had also formed an SIT to investigate the alleged cyber fraud, which was unearthed by the district police’s cyber cell in January last year. The case came to light after Inspector Amanjot Kaur, then in charge of the district cyber cell, registered an FIR and busted an alleged scam being operated from a call centre in Sector 108.

The FIR, registered under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC), named Varinder Raj Kapooria, Sanket, Sonu, Rajat Kapoor, and Nikhil Kapil as accused.

However, Inspector Amanjot Kaur alleged in her letter to the DGP that a senior district police officer had threatened her and pressured her to stay away from the investigation.

In a parallel controversy, the Mohali district court in April last year directed the registration of an FIR against Inspector Amanjot Kaur based on an application filed by petitioner Palak Dev under Section 156(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The petitioner alleged that Kaur demanded a ₹25 lakh bribe. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the district court’s order.