Ludhiana: A case has been registered against six inmates of Ludhiana Central Jail, Tajpur Road, for allegedly extorting Rs 2 lakh from two undertrials after beating and threatening them. The two victims were jailed a few days ago in connection with a high-profile NRI suicide case. The accused allegedly used a mobile phone inside the jail to make them contact a friend outside.The matter came to the notice of Central Jail authorities, who lodged a complaint with the local police. Division number 7 police registered a case against five undertrials — Harsimran Singh Mand, Jagveer Singh, Jatinder Singh, Abhey and Sukhman — besides convict Gurjeet Singh on the complaint of assistant superintendent Rishavpal Goyal.The accused have been booked under Section 308(4) (extortion) of BNS and Section 42(2) of the Punjab Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2026.According to the FIR, the jail superintendent received a tip-off that inmates lodged in barrack number 4 of Ward number 1 had allegedly extorted money from inmates of barrack number 6, Rupesh Puri and Neeraj Adya, who are facing a case of abetment to suicide.Following the information, a team of jail officials conducted a search of the accused inmates’ barrack. They allegedly seized a keypad mobile phone along with a SIM card from Harsimran Singh Mand.Mand has a criminal background and was arrested by Khanna police after an exchange of fire in Jan this year. According to the police, he opened fire at the Doraha SHO, who escaped unhurt as he was wearing a bulletproof vest. Mand sustained a bullet injury in retaliatory firing by the police. He is facing multiple cases, including those related to extortion, attempt to murder and weapons smuggling.As per the FIR, Rupesh Puri and Neeraj Adya told the police that Harsimran Singh Mand and his aides allegedly thrashed them and threatened them before demanding Rs 2 lakh.Jagveer Singh, is facing a case under the NDPS Act; Jatinder Kumar is lodged in an Arms Act case; Abhey is facing an attempt-to-murder case; Gurjeet Singh is a convict in a rape case; and Sukhman is lodged in an attempt-to-murder case.The accused allegedly handed over their mobile phone to Neeraj, who called his friend outside the jail and asked him to hand over Rs 2 lakh cash to an associate of the accused. According to the FIR, Neeraj’s friend subsequently handed over the cash to the associate at Alamgir Road.Investigating officer from division number 7, ASI Gurdial Singh, said, “Police will investigate how the accused inmate got a mobile phone inside and how and why they targeted the specific inmates who reached jail a few days ago. The police will bring the accused on production warrant to question them.”Box: NRI suicide caseRupesh Puri and Neeraj Adya were recently arrested in a case of abetment to suicide. The case was lodged after NRI Satnam Singh allegedly died by suicide at a hotel on Pakhowal Road on Sept 21 over a property dispute.
