Punjab: Duped of Rs 8 crore in cyber fraud, ex-IPS officer Amar Chahal shoots self in Patiala
Patiala (PTI): Former IPS officer Amar Singh Chahal allegedly shot himself with the rifle of his security guard here on Monday and in a purported note, he claimed that he had been duped of Rs 8.10 crore by cyber thugs who posed as wealth management advisors.
Chahal, the former Punjab Inspector General of Police, was shifted to the hospital in a critical condition, Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police Varun Sharma said.
Chalal was one of the accused in the 2015 police firing cases related to anti-sacrilege protests in Faridkot.
According to police, a note has been recovered from the scene, which shows that he was a victim of some financial fraud.
In his 12-page note addressed to Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav, Chahal alleged that fraudsters operated through WhatsApp and Telegram groups under the name 'F-777 DBS Wealth Equity Research Group', falsely claiming links with the DBS Bank and its CEO.
"With great sorrow, pain and despair, I have to bring to your kind notice that I have been cheated by these cyber thugs posing as wealth equity advisors to the tune of Rs 8.10 crore," said the note.
"I regret that I did not use due caution while parting with my money," he further wrote.
The group lured investors by promising unusually high returns through stock trading, IPO allotments, OTC trades and so-called "quantitative funds", as per the note.
They were claiming to be representing DBS Group, which is authorised by GoI and SEBI (as per them) to educate and help retail investors earn good money, it stated.
According to the note, fake dashboards were created to show inflated profits, gradually building confidence among investors and prompting them to deposit large sums.
Chahal claimed he was repeatedly pressured to reinvest profits and later asked to pay hefty "service fees," "taxes," and additional charges to withdraw his money, amounting to several crores.
The former police officer stated that despite making all payments through bank transfers, withdrawals were never processed.
He alleged that the scam was highly organised, involving multiple bank accounts and individuals, and urged authorities to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or hand over the case to a specialised central agency to trace the money trail.
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"Since this is a very sophisticated scamsters group, a dedicated SIT can only unearth the network and bring people to book. If your good self may find it proper, it could even be entrusted to CBI or a specialised cell of Punjab police," he said in his note.
Expressing deep distress, financial ruin, and emotional trauma, Chahal wrote that he felt devastated and ashamed, apologising to his family and colleagues.
"I am extremely sorry, sir, that apart from destroying my own family, I have brought the Punjab Police into question, whose own officer could not take care of the caution to be exercised", he wrote.
"Sir, I would be very grateful that if any culprits are caught and recoveries affected, and some could be passed on to my family so that they are able to pay the persons from whom I borrowed money," he wrote.
He maintained that, except for the alleged scammers, no one else was responsible for his decision.
"Sir, while advising general people to be aware of the scamsters, I have myself fallen victim to their sophisticated method," he wrote.
He also wrote in the note that he used the rifle of his gunman as he did not have any weapon.
Police said they are probing the firing incident and the alleged fraud, examining the note, bank transactions, and digital evidence.
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Assam govt drops ex-president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed's name from medical college in Barpeta
Guwahati, Mar 10 (PTI): The Assam government on Tuesday decided to rename Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital as Barpeta Medical College and Hospital.
Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the state cabinet, which approved the decision, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said most government medical colleges in the state are named after the places where they are located.
"All our medical colleges are named after their locations. We see that in the medical colleges in Guwahati, Dhubri, Silchar, Bongaigaon, Biswanath and Sonitpur. Somehow, the Barpeta one was named as Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital, which does not align with the naming pattern of other medical colleges," he said.
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Sarma said the cabinet decided to rename the institution to avoid confusion.
"Because of its name, many people ask whether it is a private medical college. That is why the cabinet today decided to change the name and make it Barpeta Medical College and Hospital," he said.
Sarma said the government would name another institution after former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed in recognition of his stature.
"As Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was India's president and the first one from Assam, the cabinet decided that another educational or cultural institution of the same or higher stature will be named after him. We will take a decision in this regard to keep his name alive," he added.
Established in 2011, the medical college is affiliated with Srimanta Sankardeva University of Health Sciences and has been offering undergraduate courses since 2012 and postgraduate medical education since 2019.
