“Organised fake engagement parties of Canada-based daughter”: Ludhiana woman held for duping Canada aspirants of lakhs

According to the FIR, “Sukhdarshan used to target innocent men aspiring to go abroad. Once the target was selected, she would tell them: ‘I am a very poor woman. I am under huge debt as I spent a lot of money on educating my daughter and sending her to Canada.’ Once the family agrees to marry their son to her daughter, she will arrange for the boy to speak to her daughter on WhatsApp calls. When the matrimonial alliance was fixed, she would organise fake engagement parties at hotels, where her daughter would appear via video calls, while the groom’s family would be physically present. At the fake engagement party in a hotel, Sukhdarshan would demand lakhs of rupees from the groom’s family on the pretext of repaying her debt and expenses incurred on the engagement party.”

ASI Harjeet Singh, the complainant in the case, said, “The trio was arrested after they arranged a similar fake engagement party on Thursday in Doraha’s Hotel Zeenat, where the accused demanded Rs 7 lakh from the groom’s family. The boy’s family had already paid them Rs 1 lakh, and another Rs 6 lakh were to be paid after the engagement, but police reached before it could happen.”

The ASI said other families duped by the gang earlier had also reached the Doraha hotel.

“It’s a matter of investigation whether Harpreet Kaur is actually in Canada or if they lied to their targets. The WhatsApp number used to make her speak to the victims is registered in India,” the ASI said.

Sukhdarshan’s husband, an ex-serviceman, died a few years ago, the ASI said. “According to victims, she duped them of different amounts, ranging from Rs 5 lakh to 18 lakh. We are yet to interrogate the accused,” the ASI added.

Sukhdarshan, her children and the accomplice were booked at Doraha police station under sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 318 (4) (cheating) and 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).