Ludhiana: ‘Gangster’ Harsimran Singh Mand, who is lodged in the Ludhiana central jail, has been booked along with his four aides for allegedly thrashing two inmates, forcing one of them to arrange ₹2 lakh for an associate of the accused. The Division number 7 police registered an FIR against the accused on Wednesday.

Officials said the accused ran an extortion racket inside the prison. The police are trying to identify the aides of the gangster who are collecting money from inmates’ kin.

The case came to light after the jail superintendent received information that inmates lodged in barrack number 4 of ward number 1 allegedly targeted two prisoners — Rupesh Puri and Neeraj Adya — who were lodged in barrack number 6 a few days earlier in connection with an alleged abetment-to-suicide case involving an NRI.

Following the information, jail officials conducted a search of the accused inmates’ barrack and allegedly recovered a keypad mobile phone along with a SIM card from Harsimran Singh Mand.

Authorities subsequently recorded statements of the two victims and approached the police. On the complaint of assistant superintendent Rishavpal Goyal, the Division number 7 police registered an FIR against five undertrials — Harsimran Singh Mand, Jagveer Singh, Jatinder Singh, Abhey and Sukhman — and a convict, Gurjeet Singh.

According to the complaint, the accused assaulted Rupesh and Neeraj, threatened them and demanded ₹2 lakh. The accused handed a mobile phone to Neeraj, who called a friend outside and asked him to deliver the money to an associate of the accused at Alamgir Road.

ASI Gurdial Singh, the investigating officer, said the FIR was registered on the basis of the complaint received from the jail authorities. He said police would investigate how the mobile phone entered the prison and why the two particular inmates were allegedly targeted.

The accused have been booked under Section 308(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 42(2) of the Punjab Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2026. Police are likely to seek production warrants for questioning the accused.

Mand’s arrest came after encounter

On January 19, the Doraha police had arrested Mand, who was wanted in an attempted murder case, along with his aide following an exchange of bullets. The accused had also hit the police vehicle with their SUV in a bid to escape on Rampura Road in Doraha. The accused opened fire at Inspector Akash Dutt; however, the latter escaped unhurt as he was wearing a bulletproof jacket.

According to the police, Mand has a long criminal history in Ludhiana commissionerate and Khanna district, with involvement in organised crime, violent offences and illegal weapons. A case was registered on October 10, 2025, at the Doraha police station, in which he and his associates had attempted to drive through a police checkpoint while travelling in a Scorpio-N. While his associates were arrested on the spot and firearms and ammunition were recovered from them, Mand had managed to escape.