Former DSP Jagdish Singh Patani, father of Hindi film actor Disha Patani, was allegedly duped of Rs 25 lakh by a group of five “influential people” who promised him a “high ranking position” as chairman or vice chairman of a govt commission in Uttarakhand.

An FIR was registered at Kotwali police station in Bareilly city against the five accused, identified as Shivendra Pratap Singh, Diwakar Garg, Acharya Jaya Prakash alias Guruji from Juna Akhara in Haridwar, Preeti Garg and one ‘OSD (officer on special duty)’ Himanshu (his first name is available). They were booked under BNS sections of cheating, criminal intimidation and extortion. The accused claimed to have “strong political connections”.

In the police complaint, Patani said, “Six months ago, my neighbour Shivendra Pratap Singh introduced me to east Delhi-based Diwakar Garg and Acharya Jaya Prakash. They promised me a highranking position in the Uttarakhand govt. Thereafter, they made me meet Himanshu and then convinced me to transfer Rs 20 lakh in three accounts while Rs 5 lakh was given in cash to Shivendra.”

He added: “I was told that if they failed to fulfil the promise, they would return the money with 10% interest. Six months have passed, but nothing happened. When I asked them to return my money, they threatened me with dire consequences. Recently, I came to know that this is an organized racket, and hence I decided to lodge a police complaint.”