Firing-for-extortion case: Delhi Police arrest 3, including dismissed Punjab cop

WorldPolitics
21 Jun 2026 • 6:56 PM MYT
Tribune
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Image from: Firing-for-extortion case: Delhi Police arrest 3, including dismissed Punjab cop
The suspects in police custody.

In a major breakthrough in a Punjab-linked firing-for-extortion case, the Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested three persons, including a dismissed ASI of Punjab Police, for allegedly conspiring to extort Rs 10 crore from a Delhi-based defence equipment manufacturer by issuing life threats in the name of Khalistani and gangster elements.

The police said the arrests had helped crack two extortion cases, including a firing-for-extortion case registered in Punjab.

The accused have been identified as Gurpinder Singh alias Prince (32) and Shamsher Singh alias Sam (35), both residents of Tarn Taran, Punjab, and Jaswant Singh (59), a resident of Amritsar.

The case stems from an FIR registered at Chanakyapuri Police Station on October 17, 2025, on the complaint of Sahil Luthra, Founder and Managing Director of Vijayan Trishul Defence Solutions Pvt Ltd.

Luthra alleged that he had received repeated extortion calls and death threats demanding Rs 10 crore in the name of gangster Goldy Brar and Khalistani elements. The police said he received multiple threatening calls and messages during August and September 2025, followed by a WhatsApp voice note from an international number on June 4, 2026, reiterating the demand and threatening serious consequences.

The investigation was transferred to the Crime Branch on June 10, Special Commissioner of Police (crime) HGS Dhaliwal in a press statement said.

The cop added that during interrogation, Gurpinder Singh and Shamsher Singh allegedly disclosed that they had sent the threatening WhatsApp voice note at the instance of co-accused Jaswant Singh, who was overseeing the complainant company’s Punjab operations.

Investigators further found that the earlier extortion calls and threatening messages were allegedly orchestrated through a person identified as “Manni”, operating from Spain using a WhatsApp number, in connivance with Jaswant Singh, he said.

The police alleged that the accused transmitted threatening voice notes and messages through WhatsApp, created a false threat narrative in the name of Khalistani and gangster elements and participated in a criminal conspiracy to extort money from the complainant. The disclosures made by the accused are being corroborated through technical evidence and other independent sources.

The investigation also revealed the accused’s alleged involvement in a firing incident targeting the complainant in Punjab. According to the Crime Branch, the present conspiracy has now been linked to a separate Punjab-based firing-for-extortion case, while further investigation is underway to identify other members of the network.

Dhaliwal mentioned that Jaswant Singh is a former Assistant Sub-Inspector of Punjab Police who was dismissed from service in 2006 and was later associated with the complainant’s company.

He has previously been named in two criminal cases registered in Punjab. Gurpinder Singh works as a gym trainer, while Shamsher Singh was engaged in his family’s photography business. Five mobile phones allegedly used in the commission of the crime have been recovered, and further investigation is continuing.