4 min readLudhianaApr 22, 2023 06:56 AM IST
First published on: Apr 21, 2023 at 06:04 PM IST
The Punjab Police Friday arrested AAP MLA Jagdeep ‘Goldy’ Kamboj’s father Surinder Kamboj for trying to extort Rs 10 lakh from a property dealer by promising to save him in an alleged false rape complaint. Goldy is a first time MLA from Jalalabad Assembly constituency.
Surinder was arrested after an FIR was registered at the Jalalabad police station under Sections 384 (extortion), 389 (putting person in fear of accusation of offence, in order to commit extortion) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC following a complaint by property dealer Sunil Kumar, a resident of Dashmesh Nagar, Jalalabad. Three others, including a woman, her son and daughter-in-law were also booked.
Meanwhile, in an another FIR, Kumar has been booked for rape based on the complaint filed by one of the women he has accused of extortion.
Reacting to the development, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said law is equal for all.
“I have said this before too that anyone indulging in any wrongdoing will be dealt as per the law and action will be taken,” he told reporters in Moga. Goldy sought to distance himself from his father saying presently he was not living with him. “Let the law take its own course. AAP has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption. If he is my father, that does not give him any right to cheat people. I came to know about the incident from the police only,” said the MLA who had emerged as a giant killer in the 2022 Assembly polls defeating Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal from latter’s stronghold.
This is Surinder’s not the first brush with law. Fazilka DSP Atul Soni told reporters over the past few years, Surinder has been named in 14 FIRs, including those on charges extortion and fraud.
In his statement to the police, property dealer Kumar said he got a call from a woman around 3.30 pm saying that she wanted to buy a house. Kumar showed her his own residence, which he intended to sell.
But later in the evening, according to Kumar’s complaint, he got a call. “At 5 pm, the woman rang him up to say that her son was beating her for roaming around with him. Her daughter-in-law too called Kumar a few minutes and accused him of being a rapist,” the police said.
As per the property dealer, “Later in the evening, I received a call from Surinder Kamboj who told me that the police will book me in the rape case and called me to his house for a settlement”.
“Surinder Kamboj demanded Rs 10 lakh as settlement, following which I complained to the police,” said Kumar.
Fazilka’s Senior Superintendent of Police Avneet Kaur Sidhu said they have booked the woman and three others on charges of extortion. “The police will take action in accordance with the law,” she added.
Meanwhile, in her complaint, the accused woman said, “On April 20, at about 3.30 pm, I had contacted Sunil Kumar to show me a property as I intended to buy one. Sunil showed me a vacant house which he said was his own property and he raped me. After coming home, I told my sons about the incident and later I went to the civil hospital to get a medical examination done. On the morning of April 21, I came to the police station to get my complaint lodged.”
She further said that her husband had died there years ago and her two sons are daily wagers. “Surinder Kamboj had also come to my house for a compromise but I want action against the property dealer,” she added.
Surinder Kamboj was earlier a member of the SAD. During the SAD-BJP government of 1997-2002, he was chairperson, Punjab Industrial Development Board.
Goldy was a senior leader of the Youth Congress before joining the AAP.
Meanwhile, Goldy Kamboj, a member of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), said that if someone is found guilty, due action should be taken even if the person is from his family. “Let the law take its own course and AAP has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption,” said Goldy. 
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