Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) arrested three persons including two ex-army personnel, who impersonated as Vigilance officials and took cheques of Rs 25 lakhs from a resident of Bhaini Salu village in Ludhiana district.

The arrested accused persons have been identified as Manjeet Singh resident of village Bhaini Salu, Paramjeet Singh of village Mehlon (Ludhiana) and Parminder Singh resident of Akash Colony, Hoshiarpur. Manjeet Singh and Parminder Singh are ex-army personnel. Parminder Singh is in charge of the World Human Rights Corporation of Punjab.

An official spokesperson of the VB said that Palwinder Singh resident of village Bhaini Salu lodged a complaint that he had sold 18 acres of his ancestral land a few months ago. Thereafter, he received a Government notice regarding selling a Panchayat land, following which, three unknown persons came to his house on August 12, 2023, and introduced themselves as officials from Vigilance Department at Sector-17, Chandigarh.

The complainant alleged that they demanded Rs 50 Lakh from him to sort out the matter of selling panchayat land as they cited that the inquiry is pending at the Chandigarh office and a case will be registered against him in this regard. In fear, the complainant agreed to pay Rs 25 Lakh and the accused persons convinced him to sign two cheques— Rs 15 Lakh and 10 Lakh— with a guarantee to return them back once receiving the amount of Rs 25 Lakh in cash. One of the accused persons also took Rs 27000 from his pocket and went away after getting his phone number.

Thereafter, the complainant has been receiving threatening calls on WhatsApp for registration of a criminal case against him in case the former fails to give the promised Rs 25 Lakh cash.

The spokesperson said that following the complaint, an FIR was registered and Manjeet Singh and Paramjeet Singh were arrested on Monday, and now they both are on police remand till August 31. Parminder Singh, a resident of Akash Colony Hoshiarpur was also arrested on Tuesday. The VB has also nominated four more persons in the case and a manhunt has been launched to arrest the remaining accused.