New Delhi: On 15 September, the trio of Tarun Shah, Herat Shah, and Thurai Raj had some uninvited guests at their office in Noida Sector 136. A group of people in civils, accompanied by one in police uniform, knocked on the door around 10 pm and informed them about a purported case pending against them in Chandigarh.
Two of them claimed to be officers in the rank of superintendent of police and deputy superintendent of police.
Before the trio could gather a sense of what was happening, they were taken into two black SUVs – MG Hector and Kia Seltos – and driven towards Punjab’s Ludhiana in the wee hours of 16 September.
The trio thought they had been arrested by genuine police officers, until they realised they were not. They were allegedly held captive in a room at a Ludhiana dhaba and then their captors demanded Rs 10 crore from them to settle the matter, a cybercrime case in Chandigarh.
By the end of the same day though, there was a major twist. The three were taken to the Cyber Crime Police station at Ludhiana in Khanna Police District by the captors.
The Punjab Police have booked six individuals: Balwinder Singh (head constable, India Reserve Battalion), Kuldeep Singh (Assistant Sub Inspector, Government Railway Police), besides Karandeep Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Mony and one unidentified individual under sections 319 (touch by impersonation),140 (kidnapping or abduction for murder, ransom, extortion, or to subject the victim to slavery, grievous hurt, or sexual offenses), 3(5) (common intention), 318 (4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023.
They arrested Karandeep Singh 17 September and are on the lookout for the other members of the gang for allegedly abducting the trio, who ran digital centres, and attempting to extort Rs 10 crore from them.
“After learning that there was no criminal complaint against the trio and the Khanna Police wanted none of them in any investigation, it appeared they were abducted by a group of people, including some police personnel impersonating senior officers, along with private persons. They (the alleged abductors) were booked under relevant sections and would be brought to justice. A Special Investigation Team has been constituted, led by an SP-rank officer to probe the matter,” Khanna Senior Superintendent of Police Jyoti Yadav Bains told ThePrint.
She also confirmed a communication has been sent to the Uttar Pradesh Police to check the criminal antecedents of the trio taken into illegal custody and brought to Khanna.
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Impersonating senior officers
During the fake raid on 15 September, Indian Reserve Battalion head constable Balwinder Singh posed as a SP-rank officer and his aide Gagandeep Singh alias Apple as a DSP. Their accomplice Karandeep Singh was handed over Balwinder’s service weapon to pose as his gunman.
The three businessmen were first taken to the famous Zamidar Dhaba in Ludhiana, where they were held captive in a room for around three hours, according to the FIR, a copy of which ThePrint has seen. Then, Balwinder Singh informed the trio about a DIG-rank officer coming to meet them and sought Rs 10 crore to settle the matter.
The SUVs used to carry the three to Ludhiana belonged to Karandeep Singh, who has been identified as a long-term aide of Balwinder Singh. Singh, a head constable-rank personnel from the 3rd Battalion of the India Reserve Battalion (IRB). He was attached to Faridkot SP(Investigation), Sandeep Wadhera.
When not deployed by the Centre, the IRB troops are available to the state government for providing reinforcement to the district police and other agencies, in addition to carrying out regular training.
ASI Kuldeep Singh was posted with the Government Railway Police, which comes under the jurisdiction of the state police. “When they refused, another gang member offered a settlement for Rs 5 crore. Then, a person posing as a DIG came and reiterated the demand of Rs 5 crore. When the victims said they could not pay, they were continuously threatened,” a Punjab Police officer documented in an FIR.
Later, the amount was negotiated to Rs 70 lakh, and they were taken near Sahnewal police station in Ludhiana, where Balwinder Singh allegedly went to the Sahnewal police station and came out with some papers.
“Balwinder first tried to execute his plan with the help of the Sahnewal police station, as he knew some officers at the police station. However, it did not fructify, and he could not execute it,” a Punjab police officer told ThePrint.
In charge of the Cyber Crime Police station, Narpinder Pal Singh reported that Balwinder Singh approached Sub-Inspector Manjit Singh, whom he knew personally.
“On 16.09.2025, HC Balwinder Singh, who knows SI Manjit Singh departmentally, had earlier told several times that he would disclose information regarding a big cyber fraud raid. He claimed that a call centre operating in Delhi was defrauding people in different cities of Punjab and said that by raiding it, a major fraud could be exposed. SI Manjit Singh told him that the first proof must be brought, which would then be verified, and after that, senior officers would take legal action as per law,” Punjab Police documented in the FIR.
However, as the plan was about to be foiled, Balwinder brought the trio from Noida to the Cyber police station in Khanna on the evening of 16 September, claiming that they were repeat offenders in cybercrime cases.
However, he could not provide satisfactory answers regarding the cases in which they were arrested and about following protocol when arresting accused individuals from outside the Khanna police district.
Then, police officers at the Cyber Police station assessed that no complaint had been filed against them on the cybercrime portal, which led them to record statements from victims, including Aggarwal, who revealed the entire sequence of events, from their illegal arrests to their journey to the police station in Khanna.
In his disclosures to the police, Aggarwal revealed that they were coerced into transferring more than 4,500 cryptocurrencies to Karandeep Singh, along with valuable items such as an Apple watch and a mobile phone.
“Karandeep also forced Tarun to give his UPI PIN by slapping him and withdrew further money. Additionally, Balwinder Singh took away a mobile phone and an Apple Watch. Gift cards with monetary value were also obtained through the MagicPin app,” the Punjab Police documented in the FIR based on the statement of the victims.
They also revealed that they were taken back to the dhaba room after the deal fell through outside the Sahnewal police station, before they were handcuffed and forcibly taken away to the Cyber Crime police station in Khanna.
“On the way, the accused changed into civilian clothes and brought the victims to Khanna Police Station. There, after strict questioning, Balwinder Singh admitted that he had made a mistake which could ruin his career. SI Manjit Singh asked Balwinder Singh to call the other persons. Around 2.05 am, Balwinder Singh went outside the police station to call them, but never returned,” the FIR further said, quoting disclosures from Aggarwal.
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