Two suspects still at large in JNU abduction bid case

Two suspects have been granted bail after allegedly attempting to abduct and molest two women students at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in India. The four men had also allegedly assaulted a male student. Two suspects remain at large, including Chetan, who is believed to have been in contact with police but failed to turn himself in. Investigators are also searching for Sameer, whom the suspects had claimed to be visiting.

Almost a week after four men allegedly attempted to abduct two women students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in their car and molested them on the university campus, and later assaulted a male student outside the North Gate of the university, investigators are still looking for two suspects.

Four men tried to abduct two women students of JNU and molested them, before they assaulted a male student of the university outside the campus last week. (HT Photo)

Meanwhile, the two who were arrested last week — Abhishek and Mahabir — were granted bail on Sunday, officers associated with the two cases said on Monday.

The officers said that investigators are also trying to find Sameer, the JNU student whom the four men had gone to meet on Tuesday night as claimed by Abhishek and Mahabir.

“Initially Abhishek had given us an address on the campus where Sameer lived. Our team went to that address and found that it belonged to a professor at the university, who has no association with anyone named Sameer. When we confronted Abhishek, he claimed that Sameer was in fact his friend Chetan’s friend. Chetan is at large. The truth about Sameer and whether he is a JNU student will be verified only once we arrest and interrogate Chetan,” said one of the officers who asked not to be named. He identified the other suspect as Amit.

According to the officer, Chetan was in contact with investigators last Wednesday, after two cases in connection with the separate incidents were registered and he was asked to join the probe. Chetan assured them that he would be present before them by that evening. However, he did not turn up and switched off his phone. The police suspected that Chetan learnt of Abhishek’s arrest and decided against turning himself in. Abhishek joined the probe the same afternoon, the officer said.

“We have approached the family members and friends of Chetan and Amit to know about their whereabouts. However, it did not yield anything. Help of technical surveillance is also being taken to locate and nab them,” added the officer.

Around 11pm last Tuesday, the women students, who are studying French, were taking a walk after dinner when four people allegedly tried to pull them in their car and molested them. The men fled in their vehicle. Nearly an hour later, a male student, who is pursuing Ph.D, was allegedly assaulted by the same car-borne men on the road outside the campus near the North Gate.

In his complaint, the student told the police that the four suspects were creating nuisance while having ice cream near the North Gate. He added that when he objected, the suspects beat him up before leaving the spot. Accordingly, two separate cases were registered at the Vasant Kunj North and Kishangarh police stations.