Gangster, five others booked for running ‘extortion racket’ from Ludhiana jail

According to the complaint submitted by Jail Assistant Superintendent Rishavpal Goyal, the matter surfaced after officials received information about two inmates, Rupesh Puri and Neeraj Adya, allegedly being targeted by prisoners lodged in another barrack.

The two victims had been shifted to Barrack 6 a few days ago in connection with an alleged abetment-to-suicide case involving an NRI. They were allegedly assaulted and threatened by inmates lodged in Barrack 4.

During a subsequent search of the barrack, the jail officials allegedly found a keypad mobile phone and a SIM card from Mand.

The development has also raised questions over the presence and use of mobiles inside the high-security prisons. The police are now probing how the handset and SIM card reached the jail and whether other persons were also involved in collecting money from the relatives of the inmates.

The FIR names undertrials Mand, Jagveer Singh, Jatinder Singh, Abhey and Sukhman, besides convict Gurjeet Singh. The police are also examining the alleged role of outside associates who may have been receiving the money.

ASI Gurdial Singh, the investigating officer, said the case had been registered on the basis of a complaint received from the jail authorities. He said the investigation would focus on the source of the mobile phone, the circumstances in which the two inmates were allegedly targeted and the alleged extortion network operating outside the jail.

The suspects have been booked under Sections 308(4) of the BNS and 42(2) of the Punjab Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2026. The police are likely to seek production warrants of the accused for questioning.