Man falls prey to carjacker after he stops for nap near Samrala Chowk

The victim, Mandeep Singh, 29, of Patran of Patiala, said that while driving back, he started feeling sleepy and so he decided to take a halt. He said he stopped his car on the roadside near Nanaksar Sahib gurdwara, Samrala Chowk, and dozed off.

A Patiala resident returning home after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple in Amritsar was robbed of his car by a gun-wielding man when he had stopped for a nap near Samrala Chowk in the wee hours of Saturday.

Around 4am, the man woke up to vigorous knocking on the window. As he looked outside, he was shocked to see a man pointing a gun at him. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The victim, Mandeep Singh, 29, of Patran of Patiala, said that while driving back, he started feeling sleepy and so he decided to take a halt. He said he stopped his car on the roadside near Nanaksar Sahib gurdwara, Samrala Chowk, and dozed off.

Around 4am, he woke up to vigorous knocking on the window. As he looked outside, he was shocked to see a man pointing a gun at him. The gun-wielding man was yelling at him to step outside. Scared, the victim did as he was told, following which the accused pushed him to the ground and drove off with his Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire.

After the carjacker left the place, the victim informed the police.

Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Prem Chand of Division Number 7 police station said an FIR under Sections 392 (robbery), 379-B (snatching using force), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered.

Police are scanning closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the area to gather clues. They suspect the involvement of more than one person in the crime.