BJP councillor’s son among four held for robbing cash,car from cab driver in Rewari

Police said questioning revealed that the four had allegedly planned the robbery to raise money for a birthday party for one of Jatin’s friends

The son of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor was among four people arrested on Monday for allegedly taking a cab driver hostage and robbing him of cash, his mobile phone and car in Rewari, police said on Tuesday.

The suspects in custody on Tuesday. (HT Photo)

Police identified the suspects as Jatin, son of Rekha, a BJP councillor in Rewari; Kapil Kumar of Bhima Kharkhari in Prahladpura; Tushar of Punshika in Rewari; and Pardeshi Babu alias Baba, a native of Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh who currently lives with his aunt’s family in Titarpur Masani, Rewari.

Police said questioning revealed that the four had allegedly planned the robbery to raise money for a birthday party for one of Jatin’s friends.

The incident took place around 7.30pm on Saturday. Cab driver Ashish Kumar, a resident of Modi village in Mahendragarh district, was in Rewari when he received a booking through a cab aggregator app and picked up the four suspects near a liquor shop at Poswal Chowk.

Deepika Agarwal, additional superintendent of police, Rewari, said the suspects attacked the driver as the cab reached an underpass on a secluded stretch near Bhawadi village, and tightened a piece of cloth around his neck while he was driving.

“The driver lost control of the cab. They took him hostage and put him in the rear seat after tying his hands and feet,” she said.

Agarwal said the suspects assaulted Ashish and forced him to transfer ₹13,000 through UPI to an account controlled by them.

“They snatched his mobile phone and ₹7,000 cash from his pocket and used it to refuel the taxi, a Maruti Celerio, from a nearby fuel station,” she said.

The suspects then drove towards Harinagar-Narnaul Road, where they allegedly pushed the driver out of the cab and fled with the vehicle, Agarwal said.

Investigators said Ashish sought help from passersby and alerted his family and the police control room. An FIR was subsequently registered at Model Town police station in Rewari under sections 309(6) (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Joint teams from Model Town police station and the crime branch were formed and subsequently traced and arrested the four suspects in Rewari.

Agarwal said the four were produced before a court and remanded in police custody for two days. Police recovered the cab some of the stolen cash and the driver’s mobile phone on Tuesday. “The four suspects have no criminal antecedents,” she added.

Jatin’s mother Rekha, a councillor from ward 15 of the Rewari district council, said she learnt about the incident on Monday morning.

“My son had returned home late on Sunday. Jatin told me that he and his friends had a birthday party. They had borrowed money and the car from the complainant for a day,” she said. Rekha added that police should take appropriate legal action if her son’s involvement in the robbery was established.