Four men ‘abducted’ by gang from Sector 14, no trace of them since Sunday

A Jharsa resident has complained to the police that his brother and three friends were abducted by a gang of eight on Sunday afternoon. He claimed that the men drove away with the four men in a SUV, and since then, there has been no trace of them.

A case of abduction has been registered at the Sector 14 police station on Thursday.

The complainant, Anup, claims that when he did not receive any ransom call and when there was no contact from the four men for nearly three days, he filed a complaint with the police.

The police said one of the kidnapped men has a case under SC/ST Act registered against him and he was released last year after serving time for murder.

According to Anup’s complaint, his brother Preetpal had called him to a house in Sector 14 on Sunday afternoon.

When he reached there, his brother was standing outside the house to welcome him. Suddenly, eight men arrived there in an SUV and caught hold of them.

“While four men were holding my brother and me, four other men entered the house and caught hold of Preetpal’s three friends — Gopal, Rohtash and Sawariya. I was able to push off one of the abductors and flee from the spot,” Anup told the police.

Anup said since his brother Preetpal was absconding in a case registered against him under the SC/ST ACT for thrashing some persons, he suspected that the men in the SUV were either the Sector 14 police or the CID team which had come to pick up Preetpal and his friends and take them to the police station.

However, when there was no ransom call or any contact from the four men for nearly three days, he grew worried play and filed a complaint with the police.

“The abducted men are around 25 years of age. The house in Sector 14 is owned by Sawariya. Preetpal was released from jail last year after serving time for murder. Two of the three men are employed as a driver and staff of a motorcycle showroom, while the third is a student of a private college,” inspector Bhartender, the SHO of Sector 14 police station, said.

“A lot of crucial time was lost as the complaint was filed two days after the incident. We are probing if the abducted men had any personal animosity with anyone,” Bhartender said.

The inspector also said complainant Anup, too, has a criminal record for petty crimes.

The mobile phone numbers of the four men, given to the police by Anup, were either switched off or not reachable.

A case for abduction and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code has been registered and a probe is underway, the police said.