Over 10 Cases of Kidnapping & Extortion of Illegal Emigrants in 11 Months

September

2026

In the last 11 months, over ten cases of youth being promised jobs abroad, kidnapped midway, followed by extortion calls to family, and payments have emerged from Panjab. The young men were promised jobs in Spain, Australia, and South Korea, but were lured by different agents and taken via different routes, and ended up in Thailand, Iran, Ethiopia, and Kenya. All the families told police they received extortion calls from a certain 'Khan Baba'. The targets were from modest families and were working as drivers, barbers, petrol-pump workers, or daily-wage laborers. Their families say they had to borrow money or sell valuables to raise USD 1,500–7K to secure their release. Senior police officers said they were examining call recordings submitted by the families of the missing men, in which they were talking to Khan Baba to try and trace him, but have had few leads so far. Two recent cases involve 24-year-old Manpreet Singh from Gill village, Kapurthala district, and 27-year-old Kulraj Singh from Manak village, Jalandhar district. While Mandeep’s family managed to pay up and ensure his return home, Kulraj’s family could not arrange the full amount. Kulraj is now in jail in Thailand. In bothMandeep’s and Kulraj’s cases, a local agent, Sanjeev Kumar, helped facilitate their travel and has been named in a police complaint. Sanjeev admits making the arrangements but points out that he did not take any money. He blames Sumrit Kumar, originally from Phagwara but now based in Malaysia. According to Sanjeev, Sumrit arranged to send people to Europe, and he trusted him. Meanwhile, Canada has removed four more Panjabis in an immigration crackdown targeting foreign nationals allegedly linked to extortion networks, taking the total number of deportations under the drive to 111. The campaign has focused heavily on cases involving youth, including men of Panjabi origin, accused of links to criminal organizations targeting South Asian businesses and families in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. The latest cases involve Palwinder Singh, Jasmer Singh, Amitoz Bajwa, and Sahibjot Singh. All four were found inadmissible under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act on grounds linked to organized or serious criminality, according to the Canada Border Services Agency. Concurrently, Panjab police have taken custody of a close associate of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, Karamveer Singh, following his deportation from Canada. Karamveer Singh is a resident of Bahadur Ke village, Ludhiana district (earlier coverage).