When Surjit failed to return and questions were asked about her whereabouts, Bachan Kaur and Sukhdave wove a web of deceit to cover up her disappearance; they claimed that she had run away with another man in India and Sukhdave claimed to have spoken to her on the phone to confirm that she wasn't coming back, yet he told someone else she'd "passed away"; they forged letters purporting to be from the Metropolitan Police which they sent to the Indian Police to put them off investigating, and they forged conveyancing documents so they could transfer Surjit's financial share of the family home to themselves. It also transpired that Sukdave had taken out a life insurance policy on Surjit the day she flew to India; he then petitioned for a divorce, claiming desertion.
