Punjab Police have arrested three members of a family, including a man impersonating an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, for allegedly cheating gullible citizens of ₹31.5 lakh by promising them fake jobs in the state police force.Police officials stated that further investigation is currently underway to trace other victims and ascertain if the syndicate is linked to similar recruitment scams across the state.The arrested individuals have been identified as Anmol Rattan, his wife Mandeep Kaur and his father Balwinder Singh, all residents of the Shahkot sub-division in Jalandhar district.According to officials, the primary accused, Rattan, was arrested following a probe into a complaint filed by a local resident. Rattan had allegedly been duping job seekers by falsely promising them direct recruitments to lucrative positions within the Punjab Police, including the ranks of deputy superintendent of police (DSP), inspector and head constable.Subsequent investigations revealed that his wife and father were active accomplices in the fraudulent operation, leading to their arrests.Police recovered a laptop, mobile phone, fake IPS identity card and several forged official documents from the possession of the accused. A case has been registered against the trio under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), invoking Sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 318(4) (cheating), 336(2) (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 336(3) (forgery for harming reputation), and 340(2) (using forged documents as genuine).Police officials stated that further investigation is currently underway to trace other victims and ascertain if the syndicate is linked to similar recruitment scams across the state.