M A I N   N E W S

Moga Sex Scandal
Charges framed against ex-minister’s son
Umesh Dewan/TNS

CBI’s Special Public Prosecutor Pawan Kumar Dogra said: “There were 10 accused in the case but one of them, Manpreet Kaur, became approver. Today, all the nine accused have been charged under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.” Apart from this, the four cops -- then Moga SSP Davinder Singh Garcha; SP Paramdip Singh Sandhu; DSP Raman Kumar and SHO Amarjit Singh -- have also been charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The other accused include Manjit Kaur, Sukhraj Singh and Karamjit Singh Bath, all residents of Moga, and Ranbir Singh, alias Ranu, a resident of Ajitwal in Moga district. On February 26, 2008, the CBI had arrested Davinder Singh Garcha along with Paramdeep Singh Sandhu for their alleged involvement in the scandal. The CBI said these two officers were involved in blackmailing rich and influential persons and a major share of the money went to them.

The scandal, which hit the headlines in the 2007, was related to immoral trafficking, where two women, Manpreet Kaur and Manjeet Kaur, in connivance with the police officers and Barjinder, allegedly extorted money from the people by threatening them to frame them in sexual abuse cases if they refused to pay up. It was also alleged that the cops and Barjinder had blackmailed prominent businessmen of Moga by making them fall in the call girls trap. The scandal came to light after one of the victims of the extortion racket exposed it in public.

The modus operandi of the scandal was simple. The female members of the gang would accuse the rich of sexually abusing them to extract money from them. Allegedly enjoying patronage of senior policemen, Manjit and Manpreet allegedly threatened many people who refused to pay up that they would land in serious trouble as they would slap cases of sexual exploitation against them.