i20 car taken away at gunpoint from student

Mohali, May 24

Three armed robbers allegedly took away an i20 car at gunpoint from a first-year engineering student in the wee hours of Thursday in Mohali.

According to the police, the incident occurred around 3 am when the victim, Akhil Pandit, a student of a Gharuan-based university, was going towards Chandigarh in his white i20 car after attending a party in Aman City, Kharar.

Police sources said the victim, a native of Jammu, who was putting up in a rented accommodation in Kharar, stopped for fuel at the Chawla filling station in Daun, Balongi. After leaving the fuel station, when the victim took a U-turn towards Chandigarh, three miscreants on a Splendor bike with covered faces signalled him to roll down the windowpane. The investigating officer (IO) said, “The victim stopped the car and one of the accused started a conversation with him. He asked the victim if he had just met with an accident.”

One of the bike-borne men then pointed a gun at him and told him to alight from the car, the IO said. The police said two of the accused got into the i20 car, which had a Haryana registration number, and fled, while the third accused rode the bike.

The victim later contacted the PCR following which the police reached the spot. A case has been registered against the accused under Sections 392 (robbery) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of acommon intention) of IPC at the Balongi police station.

Inspector NPS Lehal, SHO of the Balongi police station, said, “The investigation is on to trace the accused. As per preliminary investigation, the accused were spotted near the Ropar toll plaza in the CCTV footage after the incident.”

Raising suspicion, Mohali SSP Kuldeep Singh Chahal said, “We are verifying the facts. I visited the area on Wednesday night. On a statement of the victim, a case has been registered. However, everything is not how it seems on the surface.” —TNS