Hunt on for realtor after abducted Ludhiana man ends life in captivity

Kidnapped by a realtor and his accomplices over a monetary dispute, a 40-year-old insurance agent ended his life by consuming poison in captivity on Thursday.

After registering a case of abetment to suicide, the Division Number 5 police have launched a manhunt to arrest the realtor, Kamal Chhabra of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, and his four accomplices, who remain unidentified.

Police said the deceased was a resident of New Shimlapuri.

In her complaint, his wife stated that he worked for a private company as an insurance agent, and had made some monetary transaction with Chhabra. Following a dispute over this transaction, Chhabra and his aides kidnapped her husband in a car and assaulted him.

When she called her husband on Thursday night, he shared Chhabra and some other men had kidnapped him and had been assaulting him, demanding ₹50 lakh for his release.

It was only after he consumed something poisonous that Chhabra made a phone call to his wife and rushed the victim to a hospital. But, he died during treatment.

Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Harjap Singh, who is investigating the case, said they had booked the four accused under Sections 306 (abetment to suicide), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) and 34 (acts done in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. They were conducting raids to arrest the accused, he added.