Malout businessman, not BKI sent extortion letter: SSP

Bathinda: A prominent businessman from Malout in Muktsar district fell back on trying to extort money from wealthy families of the town after he suffered losses in business, and even roped in his son and two employees to help him in the crime, said police here on Sunday. Businessman Jaspal Singh Kang, his son Sandeep Singh, driver Baljit Singh and staffer Rajesh Kumar were arrested on Saturday. Police had started tracking their activities on receiving a complaint from a commission agent who had received a letter demanding Rs 50 lakh if he wanted his family to stay alive. While Kang is also a commission agent, he had invested several crores in a shopping mall and suffered losses in it, said a source. The accused had used the name of terrorist body Babbar Khalsa International to extort the money. Commission agent Raj Kumar Nagpal had received the letter on October 25, but approached the police only on November 8, as he was living under fear after getting the letter, said Muktsar SSP Manjit Singh Dhesi.Baljit and Rajesh had gone on a motorcycle to Nagpal's house to throw the letter into his house. Though they were captured in a CCTV camera installed outside, they could not be identified as their faces were covered.Police are also investigating into a similar letter being delivered to other people in the town. In their cases, though, the demand is of Rs 5 lakh.In 2012, some persons had abducted Nagpal's son and demanded Rs 2 crore as ransom. At the time, police arrested the abductors. Nagpal has properties in Chandigarh and Malout.Dhesi said the letter did not seem to be of the BKI as it did not have a letterhead and the name had just been written on a computer. He said they had received a tip-off about Kang's involvement in sending such letters to people. "We checked his activities. When we were sure it was Kang, we arrested him," the SSP said. "Jaspal and his son have confessed to the crime. The accused will be produced before a court by Monday." Though Nagpal did not comment on the case, he said the police were doing the needful.