Delhi man assaulted, abducted by ex-colleague for denying him a place to drink

An investigator, on condition of anonymity, said a preliminary probe has revealed that there was also a monetary dispute between the two men

A 26-year-old man was assaulted by four men, including his former colleague, in north Delhi’s Wazirabad area after he did not allow them to use his office to drink alcohol, Delhi Police officers aware of the case said on Monday.

Deputy commissioner of police (north) Sagar Singh Kalsi said four men identified as Alok, Yogender, Seelu and Karan have been arrested. (Representative image/HT Archive)

The victim has been identified as Pankaj Chauhan, a resident of Jagatpur who works at a sales executive at a bread manufacturing company. Deputy commissioner of police (north) Sagar Singh Kalsi said four men identified as Alok, Yogender, Seelu and Karan have been arrested.

The incident took place at around 2.15pm on Saturday, police said. As per Chauhan’s complaint, he was stepping out of his house for lunch when he was stopped by Alok, his brother Yogender and two others. Alok, Chauhan said, formerly used to work at the same firm and wished to use the company premises on Friday night because they wanted to drink. However, Chauhan stopped him and asked the security guard to not let them enter. This, Chauhan said, was the trigger for the assault.

An investigator, on condition of anonymity, said a preliminary probe has revealed that there was also a monetary dispute between Chauhan and Alok.

“They beat me with rods, sticks and belt. There were several people in the market who saw it happening but no one stopped them. I lost consciousness and they abducted me. They pushed me inside a car and started driving towards the Yamuna,” he said.

Chauhan said that he could hear the four men saying that they’ll chop him in pieces and throw him in the Yamuna. “As soon as I came to senses, I started shouting and made hand gestures looking at people outside who were passing by. A few people who saw me started chasing the car,” he said.

Eventually, a few residents of Jagatpur village intercepted the vehicle, Chauhan claimed, and he was rescued. The villagers caught hold of two men, while the two men who were sitting next to Chauhan in the car managed to flee, he said.

DCP Kalsi said the police control room call received a call on Saturday afternoon about the assault. “When police reached the spot, Chauhan said four persons had thrashed and abducted him. He was taken for medical examination,” the officer said, adding that based on his statement, a case under section 365 (kidnapping or abduction), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code was registered and the four men have been arrested.