Police said Neeraj Malhotra is married, while the other two women are widows. (Representational)

Five persons, including three women, were arrested for grabbing properties in Chandigarh, especially those of NRIs, after taking them on rent and later occupying them forcefully.

One of the three accused women, Neeraj Malhotra (45) is a Proclaimed Offender (PO) in as many as half a dozen cheque bounces cases in the Tricity. Police are identifying the credentials of the remaining accused, who were identified as Dilpreet Grewal, 33, Kunti, 34, Amardeep Singh, 27, and Vikas Joshi, 29.

Police said Neeraj Malhotra is married, while the other two women are widows.

Police arrested them for forcefully grabbing the house of, Harbhajan Singh, in Sector 40A on Friday night. Harbhajan Singh is currently settled in the US

While Neeraj Malhotra was taken on production warrants by Panchkula police, the other four were sent to judicial custody. They were arrested on the complaint of one Amanjot Singh, a resident of Ludhiana and a relative of Harbhajan Singh.

“We came to know that the particular gang has been in the business of illegally grabbing properties of people settled abroad. They have set a modus operandi. They identify the properties of NRIs, take them on rent. After a certain period they stop paying the rent and make their claims on the properties. We learnt of several cases of cheque bounce also pending against one of the women, Neeraj Malhotra. We discovered that this woman has more than half a dozen residential addresses in the Tricity and other districts in Punjab,” said a police officer.

Talking about the take over of Harbhajan Singh’s property, sources said, “NRI Harbhajan Singh had rented his house to one Jayesh Panchal for 11 months in 2019. Panchal had stopped paying the rent and conveyed to the house owner that he will vacate the house. On June 19, Harbhajan sent his nephew Amanjot Singh to check the status of his house. When Amanjot Singh along with his wife landed at the house, Neeraj Malhotra appeared and started quarreling with the couple when she was asked about the actual tenant, Panchal. Subsequently, Neeraj Malhotra called two more women and two men and dialled 112 alleging that Amanjot Singh sexually harassed her. A police party from PS 39 visited the spot and arrested Amanjot Singh under the preventive sections. Amanjot Singh produced all the relevant documents before the area SDM, pleading that he is innocent and property of his uncle was grabbed.”

Sources maintained after getting bail, Amanjot Singh filed a separate police complaint against the five persons at PS 39. SHO PS 39 Inspector Amanjot Singh conducted a probe, which concluded that Neeraj Malhotra along with four others have the illegal possession of the house and also steal valuables from the house.

A case was registered at the Sector 39 Police Station.

One booked for illegal sand mining

Mohali: Derabassi police Saturday booked a man for illegal sand mining. The accused was arrested and later released on bail.

The accused, identified as Shiv Kumar Singla, was arrested from near Amlala village after he failed to show the documents pertaining to permission from the administration to dig up the sand.

Singla is a resident of Rampur village near Zirakpur.

The complainant in the case, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Narinder Kumar, stated that he was present at the naka when he saw the accused arriving in a tractor-trailer.

“When our team stopped the accused, we found that the trailer was loaded with sand. He was asked to show the documents pertaining to the permission to carry the sand, but he failed to do so,” the ASI alleged.

Police booked the accused under Section 4(1) of the Mining Act at Derabassi police station. ENS