In a major breakthrough amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a safe and secure state as per directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Batala Police has busted a major extortion racket being operated by USA-based Gangster Gurdev Jassal with the arrest of its two operatives including an Assistant Sub-inspector (ASI) Surjit Singh posted in Batala and recovered Rs 83 lakh extortion money, illegal firearms, and luxury vehicles from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Sunday.The other arrested operative has been identified as Ankus Maini, a resident of Kalanaur in Gurdaspur.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed, on February 4, associates of Jassal opened fire at a petrol pump of a Kalanaur-based businessman with an intention to intimidate him and extort money from him. After continuous threat calls and demand of Rs 1 crore as extortion money, the businessman eventually paid Rs 50 lakhs on February 11, he said.
He said that Jassal’s gang used foreign numbers for threats and coordinated payments, ensuring that the extortion funds were routed through multiple intermediaries. Probe revealed that ASI Surjit Singh and Ankus Maini were involved in the collection and distribution of extortion funds, he said.The DGP informed that the accused ASI Surjit Singh has been dismissed from the service under article 311(2) of the Indian Constitution. Further investigations are on to establish backward and forward linkages in this case, he added.
Sharing operation details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Batala Suhail Qasim Mir said that some days back, Station House Officer (SHO) of Police Station Sadar Batala received an intelligence input regarding a local police officer’s involvement in handling extortion money.
Following inputs, an operation was launched leading to the arrest of the ASI and upon his confession regarding concealing a large cache of money at his house, a team reached his residence at Harnam Nagar, Batala, where a staggering Rs 76.32 lakh in cash was recovered from a concealed compartment, he said, while adding that following his arrest, ASI Surjit Singh claimed that the money was sent by his son, who is settled in USA.
The SSP said that during technical investigation the person who had handed over the money to the ASI was also tracked and eventually accused Ankus was arrested, who disclosed that the amount he had handed over to ASI is basically extortion money extorted by USA based Gurdev Jassal. Police teams have also recovered Rs 5.91 lakh and one .32 bore pistol along with two cartridges from the possession of Ankus, besides, impounding his black Mahindra Scorpio car (PB-11-CU-1000).
He said that further probe has also revealed that ASI’s two sons are in close contact with Gurdev Jassal, facilitating the transfer of extorted funds to the gangster in exchange for a cut of the profits, using which the accused ASI has recently bought two plots and a brand-new Toyota Fortuner Legender, which has been impounded by the police teams.
A case FIR no. 14 dated 14/2/2025 was registered under section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act at Police Station Sadar Batala, and later sections 308(2), 111 and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and section 25 of the Arms Act were added.