Ludhiana delivery men thrash robbery suspects; assaulted sans proof, say police

Mohammad Talib, alias Guddu, a food delivery worker, said that around 40 delivery workers operating during night hours had formed a WhatsApp group for safety

Food delivery workers thrashed four men while accusing them of planning to rob one of them in Dugri on Friday. They were handed over to the police but the latter maintained that the suspects were assaulted without concrete evidence of their involvement in any crime.

The ADCP said police were in the process of registering a case against the delivery workers for the assault. (HT File)

The incident took place near Jain Mandir in Dugri during the early hours. According to delivery workers, their colleague Manjot, alias Goldy, was allegedly being followed by a group of men “planning” to rob him.

Mohammad Talib, alias Guddu, a food delivery worker, said that around 40 delivery workers operating during night hours had formed a WhatsApp group for safety. He said that at around 2 am, Goldy made a conference call with the group to inform that he was being chased by several men. After tracking his live location, a group of delivery workers reached there and and overpower four out of six suspects. One of them carried a sharp weapon, Guddu said. The men were allegedly beaten up and later handed over to the police.

However, the police gave a different version of events. Additional deputy commissioner of police (City 2) Karanveer Singh said preliminary investigation suggested that some delivery workers had recently fallen victim to robbery and had started searching for suspects on their own instead of informing the police.

The officer said the delivery workers identified a group of men as suspects and allegedly assaulted them brutally before handing them over to the police. The injured men later approached the police and lodged a complaint regarding the assault.

The ADCP said police were in the process of registering a case against the delivery workers for the assault. He added that the role of the men apprehended in Dugri was still under verification and they had not yet been cleared in the robbery suspicion.