Army officer raises ‘false’ abduction alarm

Ropar, February 23

A false alarm of kidnapping by a serving Captain had put the Army, Intelligence agencies and the district police on their toes here. The local police managed to solve the matter within one hour of the Army officer, Captain Vikram Solanki, pressing the panic button.

Sources said Capt Solanki was returning with his four friends from Kasol near Kullu in Himachal Pradesh in Volkswagen Polo car when due to some reason they had to apply brakes in the middle of road near the Himachal-Punjab border. A Santro car coming from behind hit their car. Its occupants, who belonged to Sonepat in Haryana, demanded compensation for damages to their car from Capt Solanki and his friends.

The latter agreed to pay the damages after reaching Chandigarh. Following this, two occupants of the Santro shifted to the officer’s car while two of the Captain’s friends sat in the Santro.

The sources said on their way to Chandigarh, both parties calmed down and even had tea at a dhaba near Kiratpur Sahib.

Meanwhile, Capt Solanki sent messages to his friends from his phone that he had been kidnapped by some armed persons. He even sought to summon the quick reaction force of the Army.

Soon, his location was traced and the Ropar police intercepted both cars near Bann Majra village on the Chandigarh road. Senior Army officers also reached the spot and after knowing the truth, gave a dressing down to the Captain, the sources said.

Legal proceedings under Section 182 of the IPC were initiated against Capt Solanki and his friends Arvind Kumar, Bal Indu Rai, Rishav Ujjwal and Raman Kumar Singh.

Santro occupants Deepak Singh, Dharmender Singh, Neeraj Kumar, Vihal Kumar and Sandeep Singh were booked under Sections 107 and 151 of the CrPC. — TNS