E-Paper
5 held for abducting Jind bizman, extorting ₹19 lakh
The accused have been identified as Reena Devi, a resident of Danoda village in Jind, Manjeet Dhillon of Hansi, Sukhvinder alias Kidu, Sandeep and Anil alias Neel.
Jind police have arrested five individuals, including two women, for allegedly abducting 41-year-old businessman and extorting ₹19 lakh from him by threatening to frame him in a false rape case.
The accused have been identified as Reena Devi from Danoda village (Jind), Manjeet Dhillon from Hansi, and Sukhvinder alias Kidu, Sandeep, and Anil alias Neel from different villages in Jind district. Police said Manjeet Dhillon impersonated a Station House Officer (SHO) during the crime.
Police have recovered ₹19 lakh in cash and a car used in the abduction.
According to Narwana deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Amit Bhatia, the incident came to light following a complaint filed by Anoop Kumar, a resident of Badanpur, on April 16. In his complaint, Anoop said he was abducted the previous day from near the Narwana over-bridge.
Anoop, who owns a cooler manufacturing unit, told police he was riding his motorcycle with a female friend on April 15 when a white car intercepted them. One of the car’s occupants signaled him to stop. He was forcibly taken into the car, while another accused drove off on his bike, accompanied by Reena Devi.
“One of the women, later identified as Manjeet Dhillon, posed as an SHO and demanded ₹20 lakh from me. They threatened to implicate me in a false rape case if I refused,” Anoop told the police.
He said he was beaten and threatened with death by drowning. “They blindfolded me and took me to an unknown location. The next day, they brought me near a canal and again threatened to throw me in if I didn’t arrange the money,” he said.
Fearing for his life, Anoop convinced them to let him contact his commission agent, Ramdhari, under the pretext of finalising a land purchase. When he asked Ramdhari to transfer money into his account, the agent asked him to come to his shop in Narwana to collect the cheques.
“A man and woman with me in the car warned me not to say anything to the agent. At the shop, Ramdhari said he would transfer the money into my account. After that, the accused made me sit in the car for several hours. Once I received the transaction message, I called my nephew, Shri Bhagwan, and told him to hand over two cheques to the two people in the car. Then they took me to the SBI branch in Narwana, where I withdrew ₹19 lakh by signing the cheques. Later, they dropped me off in Narwana and told me not to speak to anyone,” he said in his complaint.
Following the investigation, a special team formed by the police arrested all five accused. DSP Bhatia said, “The accused have confessed to the crime. They will be produced before the court, and we will seek their police remand. We have recovered the extorted money and the car used in the crime.”
The DSP added that one of the accused, Sukhvinder, is facing three other criminal cases, while Sandeep has been booked previously under charges including attempt to murder, the SC/ST Act, and the Human Trafficking Act.
All five accused have now been booked under Sections 115, 126, 127(2), 140(1), and 308(6) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
