Businessman rescued, ‘abductor’ shot dead in Rohtak encounter

The incident occurred at the Bajrang Bhawan railway crossing in Rohtak on Monday evening around 5.30 pm. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Suman Goel said, “The Chhawla police station received a complaint on Monday morning that one Ramlal Tyagi had been kidnapped. A case was registered and a team formed to probe the matter. We had laid a trap after tracing the location of Tyagi through technical intelligence. Tyagi was rescued by the team.”

The abductors demanded a ransom of Rs 20 lakh to free Ramlal, which a relative was to deliver. After tracking Tyagi’s mobile phone, the police team reached Rohtak. When Ramlal’s relative who had brought the ransom money reached the pre-designated spot, the Delhi Police cordoned off the car in which the alleged abductors were travelling.

Goel claimed that when the team surrounded the vehicle driven by Rajkumar, an unidentified man seated at the back of the vehicle opened fire. “In retaliation, the team opened fire. While the man, an associate of Rajkumar managed to flee, Rajkumar and a girl who was seated in the passenger seat were injured. Rajkumar has at least five cases of robbery registered against him. The girl identified as Jyoti is his friend and is presently admitted at PGI Rohtak hospital,” Goel said.

When asked how many rounds of fire were exchanged and how how the team managed to “rescue” Tyagi, Goel claimed all of this was “part of investigations”. The officer refused to comment any further.

On the other hand, Rajkumar’s father, Satbir, called it a “brutal murder” of his son by Delhi Police personnel. “My son had no role to play in any criminal case. He might have been incidentally sitting in the vehicle in which the so-called abductors were sitting. He had recently left his studies after he got admission in MA first year. He was merely 26 years old and had no criminal background. He was unarmed when the police shot him dead. I spoke to Delhi Police officers, who told me that the real culprits had escaped while my son got shot,” Satbir said.

About the identity of the girl, Jyoti, who also got shot at with Rajkumar, Satbir said, “My son was unmarried. I do not know who this girl is and how she was with my son when the incident took place.”

The car in which Rajkumar and Jyoti were shot was also seized by the police.

However, Sourabh Singh, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Rohtak), claimed that Rajkumar and Jyoti were both wanted by Delhi Police in the abduction case.

“The encounter of two criminals was conducted by Delhi police teams of Police Station-Chhawla, Najafgarh and Dwarka North at 5.30pm. As per information furnished by delhi police, these two criminals had kidnapped Ram Lal, yesterday. Rajkumar has a criminal track record. Two cases of dacoity are registered against him in Delhi, while he is also an accused in a criminal case registered against him in Sirsa. Further investigations are on,” Singh said.

An FIR under Sections 307, 34 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at Police Station-Civil Lines, Rohtak.