Dragged from his car, beaten, and thrown into the back of an SUV, the chief executive officer of a civic body in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district was allegedly abducted on Thursday until police, acting after a frantic call from his brother, intercepted the vehicle and pulled off a dramatic rescue.
Akash Dharve (32), CEO of Jawad Janpad Panchayat, was abducted early Thursday morning. In a purported video of the incident, police personnel in plain clothes were seen blocking the road and forcing the SUV to stop, after which they dragged the suspects out.
Among the accused were Betma tehsildar Jagdish Randhawa and five patwaris. A total of people were charged in the case, police said.
Neemuch Additional Superintendent of Police Naval Singh Sisodia said that the CEO’s brother reported the abduction early in the morning. Acting swiftly, the police, with assistance from authorities in Nagda, rescued Dharve.
The accused were tehsildar Jagdish Singh, patwaris Pramod Das, Ajay Singh, Ajay Uchhawal, and Pinky Singh, and eight unidentified persons. Further action will be taken after Dharve’s formal statement, police said.
ASP Sisodia said the incident may be the result of a personal matter. “Preliminary information suggests that a marriage proposal was discussed in 2014 between CEO Dharve and a woman, who is the relative of tehsildar Jagdish Randhawa. They wanted him to marry the woman and also pay some money to them,” the ASP told The Indian Express.
On Wednesday night, the woman accompanied by family members, allegedly created a scene outside Dharve’s residence in Neemuch’s Officer Colony. The police intervened and persuaded them to leave. However, on Thursday morning, the woman and Jagdish allegedly returned with their associates, forcibly abducting Dharve.
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Dharve later told the local media: “They hit me, shoved me into their car, and kept beating me as we drove. They threatened me the whole way.”
At the heart of it, he claimed, was blackmail. “They demanded ransom. If I didn’t pay, they made it clear there would be consequences,” he said. “I knew the woman. We were in contact, but I had no idea this was coming.”
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
