23 year old victim main target, five co-passengers in moving auto also suffer burns after acid attack

The eyewitnesses said that once they reached the Mohan Nagar temple on the GT Road, two bikers on a black Pulsar arrived and hurled a black plastic pouch containing the acid on the victim. The family of the victim said that she was the prime target and the attack was planned.

Ghaziabad: The acid attack on 23-year-old woman in Mohan Nagar also caused burn injuries to two women and three men, including the driver, who were inside the auto-rickshaw which was targeted by two unidentified bikers.

A woman on Tuesday was attacked with acid in Ghaziabad. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The eyewitnesses said that once they reached the Mohan Nagar temple on the GT Road, two bikers on a black Pulsar arrived and hurled a black plastic pouch containing the acid on the victim. The family of the victim said that she was the prime target and the attack was planned.

“I had come to my kiosk around 9.30am when an auto-rickshaw suddenly applied brakes. It stopped barely 20 feet away and an old-aged woman fell off. I rushed towards the auto and saw that one of the women had sustained severe burns due to some liquid on her face. Her hair too got burnt,” said Atul Kumar, a vendor outside the temple.

According to police, the victim and five others sustained burn injuries as a result of the acid attack which took everyone by surprise in the moving auto. The list of injured included the 23-year-old woman, Jaichand and Kamla from Baghpat, Anil Tyagi from Farrukh Nagar, Anshu from Loni and Rahul from Baghpat.

The eyewitnesses said that the bikers sped away towards Ghaziabad city.

“The rider was wearing a helmet while the pillion rider had covered his face with a handkerchief. My T-shirt also got burnt and I sustained burns on my arm. The liquid nearly got splashed on all the passengers. The victim, another woman and an old aged woman were sitting on rear seat,” said Rahul Kumar, a passenger who had come to Ghaziabad from Baghpat.

“The bikers were wearing black T-shirt. They drove for some seconds along with the auto and then threw the pouch on the woman sitting on the rear corner seat. She was targeted and her clothes also got burnt. The second woman sitting alongside her was going for an exam,” he added.

The police later rushed to the spot and took statements of the victims, who were initially treated at Narendra Mohan hospital.

“The five passengers were terrified as a result of the attack. They suffered minor burns and later got discharged after treatment. The victim also gave us her statements but no one could see or identify the two bikers,” said Rakesh Kumar Singh, station house officer, Sahibabad.

“I could not see the bikers after the auto stopped and everyone was shouting for help. I got burns on my arm and my back. By the time we could sense what had happened, the bikers had sped away and could not be identified,” said Anil Tyagi, another passenger, who sustained burns and was discharged after treatment.