The Passiana police have booked three individuals, including two assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) from the Sadak Suraksha Force (SSF), for allegedly targeting couples, filming them, and extorting money on isolated stretches.Police have arrested ASI Karnail Singh and an accomplice, Gurpreet Singh, who posed as a fake police officer. Both were produced before a local court, which remanded them to two-day police custody. A third accused, ASI Balihar Singh, has also been named in the case.According to police officials, Sub-Inspector Jagtar Singh of the Passiana police station received a tip-off that Gurpreet Singh was operating a Haryana-registered Alto car fitted with a fake Punjab registration plate. Preliminary findings reveal that ASIs Karnail Singh and Balihar Singh, who were deployed with SSF, teamed up with Gurpreet Singh to intercept couples sitting in vehicles on desolate roads, such as the Sullar-Main Road stretch. Gurpreet would allegedly record videos of the victims and use the footage to blackmail and extort money from them.The matter came to light when the accused intercepted a couple seated in a car near the Sher Majra bridge. After filming them, they initially demanded Rs 20,000 to let them go. The deal was eventually struck at Rs 5,000.Sensing foul play, the young man in the car placed a discreet call to an acquaintance — a police sub-inspector in Patiala — seeking help. The officer cross-checked with the jurisdictional police station and local checkpoint to verify whether any authorised police barricade had been deployed at the spot. Upon confirming that no official team was on duty there, the sub-inspector rushed to the scene, cornered the suspects, and alerted the Passiana police, leading to the immediate arrest of Gurpreet Singh and ASI Karnail Singh.A forensic review of Gurpreet Singh’s mobile phone led to the recovery of roughly 90 videos. Investigators suspect the gang ran an ongoing extortion operation targeting vulnerable couples across the area.The two SSF personnel were assigned duty between the Passiana bus stand and Gajju Majra bus stand, primarily responsible for rushing road accident victims to hospitals. Instead of carrying out their designated public-safety duties, the officers were allegedly running an extortion racket alongside their private accomplice.Passiana SHO Pavitra Singh confirmed that an FIR has been registered against three persons. “Two accused have been arrested and remanded in police custody for two days. We are interrogating them to determine the full extent of the extortion network and trace other victims,” the SHO stated.