50-year-old kidnapped for extortion in Ghaziabad; FIR lodged

Ghaziabad: The Ghaziabad police on Friday registered an FIR into the alleged kidnapping and extortion from a 50-year-old liquor store salesman in Vijay Nagar on Wednesday, officials said on Saturday.

The salesman was identified as Kailash Singh Bhati, a native of Amroha who lives in Vijay Nagar. Kailash had started working at the shop about 5-6 months ago. His son, Pankaj Bhati, reported the matter to the police.

Pankaj told HT: “Late on January 21, my father was abducted from the shop area by 2-3 unidentified men in a car. They robbed him of his gold ring and some cash, and beat him up severely. They also asked him to call up his colleague, Sunil Kumar, and asked him to transfer about R25,000-30,000 to an account in the name of some ‘Chaudhary Sahab.’ Since Sunil did not have any money, the suspects called me up around 3.20am on January 22. I transferred about R25,000 to the said account.”

Pankaj added that the suspects then dumped Kailash in an unconscious state near the shop and fled.

“Some shop workers saw him and got him admitted to a nearby hospital and informed us. My father is currently in the ICU and cannot speak. We have filed a police complaint. My father would be able to identify the men in the car once he recovers. We have no enmity with anyone,” Pankaj added further.

An FIR against “Chaudhary Sahab” and other unidentified persons was filed under BNS sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (intentional insults intended to provoke a breach of peace), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 308(5) (for putting a person intentionally in fear of death or grievous hurt to commit extortion), 309(6) (robbery), 140(2) (kidnapping or abducting a person to demand ransom), and 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide).

“We have initiated an investigation into the incident, and added relevant sections to the FIR. The man is currently in the hospital and undergoing treatment,” said Ritesh Tripathi, ACP of the Vijay Nagar circle.