Three booked for grabbing Zirakpur hotel, threatening to kill owner

The victim said the accused approached him on the pretext of providing him a loan, but instead occupied his hotel forcibly

The Zirakpur police have booked three men for grabbing the hotel of a debt-ridden businessman and threatening to kill him.

When the victim protested, the accused threatened to kill him by pointing a pistol at him and warned him against returning to the hotel. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The accused have been identified as Gurdeep Singh and Paramjit Singh Saluja, both residents of Lajpat Nagar, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, and Satnam Singh, alias Amit, a resident of Sector 41, Chandigarh.

The victim, Ishan Sharma, lives in Sector 7, Panchkula, and owns Hotel Almeida in Zirakpur.

Sharma told the police that during the past few months, he had suffered huge losses and his business was not doing well.

He said the accused approached him on the pretext of providing him a loan, but instead occupied his hotel forcibly. When he protested, they threatened to kill him by pointing a pistol at him and warned him against returning to the hotel. By threatening him, the trio also extorted money from him, Sharma alleged.

Investigating officer sub-inspector Paramjit Kaur said they had booked the three accused under Sections 420 (cheating), 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt.) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, and the Arms Act. She said the accused were absconding currently and a manhunt had been launched to nab them.