Fugitive Goldy Brar’s parents held in extortion case amid Punjab’s crackdown on gangsters

Bathinda: Punjab Police have arrested the parents of foreign-based gangster Goldy Brar from a hotel in Punjab's Amritsar town in a Dec 2024 extortion case and secured their police remand till Jan 30.The action comes amid the state govt's ‘Gangstran Te Vaar', a crackdown on gangsters and their networks. Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar is wanted in the killing of Punjabi singer Shubhdeep Singh alias Sidhu Moose Wala on May 29, 2022. On Monday, Muktsar police apprehended Shamsher Singh—a former Punjab Police assistant sub-inspector — and his wife, Preetpal Kaur. The arrests are in connection with an FIR involving charges of extortion and criminal intimidation on a complaint filed by Satnam Singh, a senior lab attendant at a govt school in Udekaran village, Muktsar, said sub-inspector Darshan Singh, SHO of Muktsar Sadar police station. Satnam Singh alleged he received WhatsApp calls on Nov 27 and Dec 3, 2024, from a foreign number. The caller, claiming to be a member of the Devender Bambiha gang, demanded Rs 50 lakh, according to the complaint. On Tuesday, the couple was produced before a Muktsar court. Shamsher Singh, who was forcibly retired in 2021 following his alleged involvement in a murder case, and Preetpal Kaur were sent to police remand to allow investigators to probe potential money trails. The prosecution aims to determine if the couple has remained in contact with Brar or received funds from him. However, the defence argued that neither Brar nor his parents were mentioned in the FIR. They further said that the extortion calls were made in the name of the Bambiha group—a rival of Brar's group. After moving to Canada in 2017, Brar established a transnational crime group, initially operating alongside gangster Lawrence Bishnoi before the two parted ways. Designated a terrorist under the UAPA in 2024, Brar's exact location remains unknown, with conflicting reports placing him in either the US or Canada. On Dec 2, 2022, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann announced that Brar had been detained in the US, a claim that proved false. MSID:: 127597110 413 |