Ex-IPS Officer Critical After Alleged ₹8.1 Crore Cyber Fraud Loss

PATIALA: A retired senior police officer is in critical condition after allegedly attempting suicide, citing severe financial distress linked to a suspected ₹8.10 crore cyber fraud, police said, as authorities launched a multi-pronged inquiry.

According to officials, Amar Singh Chahal, a former Inspector General of Police, was found with a gunshot wound to his chest at his Patiala residence late Monday. The injury is believed to be self-inflicted using a security guard’s revolver. He was rushed to Park Hospital, where doctors said his condition remains critical.

Varun Sharma, Senior Superintendent of Police, said teams reached the spot within minutes of receiving the alert. “We intervened in time and shifted him to the hospital while he was still breathing,” he told reporters.

Investigators recovered a 12-page handwritten note from Chahal’s home, addressed to Gaurav Yadav, the Director General of Police, Punjab. In the note, Chahal reportedly described acute financial distress after being allegedly duped in an online investment scheme. He claimed to have invested ₹1 crore of his own funds and borrowed the remaining amount from friends and relatives, routing transactions through multiple banks.

Police sources said Chahal had also written to Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and Nirmala Sitharaman, seeking intervention.

Authorities are now scrutinizing transaction trails and verifying whether other investors were affected, suggesting a wider cyber fraud network. The case is further complicated by Chahal’s past involvement in the politically sensitive 2015 Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura firing cases. Officials said the immediate priority is his medical condition, while the contents of the note will guide the cybercrime probe.