Law equal for everyone: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann

Following arrest of AAP MLA’s father in extortion case, Punjab CM says action will be taken against guilty

NEW DELHI | Updated: 22 April, 2023 12:22 am IST
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann (left)

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has come to power in Punjab promising a clean government, seems to have lived up to its promise.

In an interesting development, Punjab Police on Friday, April 21, arrested party MLA Jagdeep ‘Goldy’ Kamboj’s father, Surinder Kamboj, in a case of extortion.

Surinder Kamboj was allegedly demanding ₹10 lakhs from a property dealer to settle a dispute.

After his father’s arrest, Jagdeep Kamboj released a video stating that AAP has a “zero tolerance government” in Punjab. Jagdeep Kamboj said that he got a call from the complainant on Thursday, after which he told him to approach the local police and register a case.

“This is Bhagwant Mann’s government, which is a zero-tolerance government. Any person guilty, whether he belongs to the AAP or is a member of the party, will not be spared,” Jagdeep, who is famous as Goldy, said. He also said that his father is not staying with him.

Reacting to the incident, Punjab CM Mann said the law is equal for everyone. “Action will be taken against anyone who is found guilty. We never see whether the accused is an uncle, nephew or father,” Mann said.

The matter is related to an extortion case where 67-year-old Surinder Kamboj, along with two other men and two women, demanded ₹10 lakhs to settle a fake rape case against a property dealer, Sunil Kumar, in Jalalabad.

According to the FIR, Kumar got a call from one Rano Bai, who said that she wanted to buy a house. He showed her a house on Thursday.

Kumar later got a call from Rano Bai stating that she had been beaten up by her son and daughter-in-law. Rano Bai also said that they suspected that she was raped by Kumar.

Kumar then got a call from Surinder Kamboj to settle the dispute by giving him ₹10 lakh. Later, Punjab Police caught Surinder Kamboj red-handed while taking ₹50,000 from Kumar, stated the FIR.

On the complaint of Kumar, Jalalabad Police registered a case under Sections 384 (extortion) and 389 (putting a person in fear of accusation of an offence to commit extortion) and arrested Surinder Kamboj.

Surinder Kamboj, a former chairperson of the Agricultural Development Bank, was earlier arrested in a case of prostitution in Chandigarh in 2017.

The assembly constituency of Jalalabad is prominent as it was once a bastion for former Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal. In 2022, Goldy left Congress and joined the AAP. He contested the assembly election and scripted a major win by beating Badal.

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