The Centre on Friday said it has not received any request from the United States seeking the extradition of Punjab Police officer Gurinderjit Singh, who was named by the US Department of Justice in an alleged cross-border extortion conspiracy linked to the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria transnational criminal syndicate.Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha by Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said the Government became aware of the allegations following a July 7 press briefing by the US Department of Justice announcing “Operation Hard Ball” and the related federal indictments.“It has come to the notice of the Government that… allegations were made that members of the Bhagwanpuria transnational criminal syndicate had conspired with a Punjab Police officer in connection with an extortion scheme involving a US-based Indian-origin family,” the Minister said in a written reply.The Centre informed the Parliament that, according to a July 8 statement issued by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Jalandhar Range, the officer was immediately removed as Station House Officer (SHO) of Tanda police station after the allegations surfaced.The Government further said the officer was arrested on July 17 following an investigation and departmental proceedings have also been initiated against him.Significantly, the Minister clarified that “no request for extradition of the said officer has been received from the US authorities till date.”The clarification comes a month after senior US Justice Department officials publicly alleged that the Punjab Police officer had conspired with members of the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria syndicate to extort USD 400,000 from a US-based Indian-origin family by threatening to implicate their relatives in a fabricated murder case in Punjab.During the July 7 press conference in Los Angeles, First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli had said the officer had been charged in the United States and asserted that American authorities would seek his extradition.The allegations formed part of “Operation Hard Ball”, a multinational law enforcement action targeting India-based organised crime syndicates with alleged operations spanning the United States, Canada and other countries.While confirming that criminal and departmental action has been initiated against the Punjab Police officer, the Government did not indicate whether it has received any formal request for legal assistance from US authorities beyond the public allegations made during the Justice Department briefing.