Upset over being fired, man takes NTPC engineer’s wife, daughter hostage

Police said the accused, Karamveer, worked for around five years as a lineman with the NTPC till last July when he was fired for alleged irregularities. He allegedly targeted the family of junior engineer Rajesh Kumar Rai, who he believed was responsible for his sacking.

Police arrested a 32-year-old man late on Monday night after he allegedly took hostage the wife and daughter of a National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) employee in Greater Noida.

(Standing, second from left) Karamveer, a former lineman with NTPC, in police custody. He was fired in last July for alleged irregularities. (Police handout)

Police said the accused, Karamveer, worked for around five years as a lineman with the NTPC till last July when he was fired for alleged irregularities. He allegedly targeted the family of junior engineer Rajesh Kumar Rai, who he believed was responsible for his sacking.

The incident, police said, happened on Monday at around 9:15 pm at NTPC Colony in Dadri. Karamveer allegedly carried a gun, entered Rai’s house and took his 50-year-old wife and 22-year-old daughter hostage.

Rai alleged that Karamveer wanted to shoot him dead and kept asking his wife and daughter to call him.

“I was attending a colleague’s retirement party when I received a call from my daughter’s phone. This man asked me to come to my house so that he could shoot me. I informed the police and rushed to my house in the next 10 minutes. Police too had arrived at the scene by then,” said Rai.

A round of negotiations began between the accused and the police thereafter.

“After a while, Karamveer let go of my wife and took my daughter to my bedroom to hold her as hostage,” said Rai. “My daughter tried to bring him to his senses but he kept on asking me to appear. Meanwhile, the station house officer of Jarcha Police station, Prabhat Dixit, entered the house. As the bedroom door was left ajar by the accused, SHO Dixit looked through the space and signalled to my daughter to duck when he gave a hint. As soon as Dixit gave a signal, my daughter ducked, and the cop lunged on to the accused. A fist fight also ensued between the cop and the accused after which Karamveer was caught,” said Rai.

The entire ordeal, he said, lasted around an hour.

Police said that the accused was sacked after reports of irregularities against him.

“It was found that the accused’s father is also employed in NTPC as an attendant. Karamveer was fired by the deputy general manager (HR) Umesh Kumar Rai in July. On August 4, 2018, he had also barged into Umesh’s office and threatened him of dire consequences. The accused held the junior engineer responsible for his sacking,” said Prabhat Dixit, station house officer, Jarcha police station.

The accused was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 452, 307, 342, 504 and 506 for house trespass, attempt to murder, wrongful confinement, intentional insult and criminal intimidation.