Extortion bid foiled

AMRITSAR, Dec 10: A couple who connived to extort money from a relative have received their just desserts. The husband is in jail while the wife is absconding.

Senior Superintendent of Police G. S. Sahota told The Indian Express that Bachan Singh, a resident of Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, had, over time, borrowed Rs 1.5 lakh in the form of cash and gold ornaments, from a relative, Surjit Singh. Surjit 60 is a resident of Azad Nagar and an ornament dealer. Bachan had kept putting off Surjit whenever he asked for his money.

Sahota said Bachan then hatched a conspiracy not only to avoid paying the debt but also to extort more money from him. Bachan asked his wife Rano 30 to call Surjit Singh to their house. When he came, Rano went to another room on the pretext of getting refreshments, took off her alwar, and came back.Bachan Singh, who had hidden in another room, came out. At knife-point, he forced Surjit to strip and asked his wife to take off the rest of her clothes.