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Strangers befriend Zirakpur man, assault, rob him of SUV

The victim, Ankush Kanwar, is a private company employee and resident of Zirkapur on Gazipur Road; police said the incident occurred around 10.30pm on July 20

Published on: Jul 24, 2026, 08:47:07 IST
By , Mohali
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A 34-year-old man was allegedly assaulted and robbed of his SUV after two unidentified men struck up a conversation with him while he was sitting inside his SUV outside his residential society in Zirakpur on Monday night, police said.

The complainant alleged that the man seated behind grabbed him by the neck, while the other stepped out, picked up a brick from the roadside and repeatedly struck him on the head and face. (HT Photo for representation)
The complainant alleged that the man seated behind grabbed him by the neck, while the other stepped out, picked up a brick from the roadside and repeatedly struck him on the head and face. (HT Photo for representation)

The victim, Ankush Kanwar, is a private company employee and resident of Zirkapur on Gazipur Road. Police said the incident occurred around 10.30pm on July 20.

Ankush in his complaint alleged that he was sitting inside his white Mahindra XUV300 near the Ganda Nullah bridge close to the society gate, when two young men arrived on motorcycles and started talking to him.

Ankush said one of the accused asked him for a cigarette. “When Ankush said he did not have one, one of the accused went to buy cigarettes while the other got into the front passenger seat of the SUV. The first man later returned and sat in the rear seat,” the complaint stated.

According to the police, an argument broke out inside the vehicle. The complainant alleged that the man seated behind grabbed him by the neck, while the other stepped out, picked up a brick from the roadside and repeatedly struck him on the head and face.

The accused then allegedly drove Ankush in his SUV to the area near Gazipur School, where they assaulted him again. Police said they smashed the driver’s side window using an interlocking paving tile and hit him with it.

Police said that the assailants threatened to kill Ankush before driving away in his SUV. After they fled, the complainant managed to seek help from a passerby, reached home and was later admitted to a private hospital in Zirakpur.

Police said they received information about the incident through a PCR call around midnight. Ankush recorded his statement at the police station after treatment, following which an FIR was registered under Sections 126 (wrongful restraint), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 294 (uttering obscene words in public), 324 (mischief causing damage) and 351(2) and 351(3) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Police said the stolen SUV was found abandoned the next morning near Golden Era Society on Gazipur Road. Police said the two accused remain unidentified, though the complainant told investigators he would be able to identify them if produced before him. Further investigation is underway.