Abducted youth thrown near Ropar canal

Narrating the incident, he said he had gone to seek admission in the Ancient History and Culture Department, along with Avtar Singh of his village, when an associate of the president of Students Organisation of Punjab University (SOPU) saw us and whispered something to his other friends. "They followed us to where the interviews were to be held," he said. "SOPU chief D. P. S. Randhawa asked me whether I am the guy who was involved in the attack on them two years ago. I denied it and he slapped me," he alleged.

"Then they dragged me to the ground floor and pushed me into a Maruti car. There were around 10 of them; some of them sat in our car and the rest followed us in a Tata Sumo. They took me near the Sector 25 Cremation Ground where they struck me repeatedly all over my body. I was suffering from jaundice already so it was agonising pain but they were merciless," he added.

He alleged that then they drove back to the campus and took him to a room in Hostel Number 4. "There were hardly any police around. They again asked me if I was the same guy. Then they searched my pockets and found my previous identity card when I was doing MA Punjabi. Another boy came who said: "You’ve found him now; don’t spare him this time."

"At this, one of them said that he would go and fetch a sword. Let’s finish him,’ he said. He rushed and returned within few minutes saying that police had raided the hostel. They took me out from the mess side and pushed me into a Sumo and drove out from Gate Number 3.

Then I was blindfolded and my mouth stuffed with a cloth. I was forced into a Maruti car near the cremation ground. "There were three guys in the car. I do not know them but can surely identify them. We must have driven for about an hour before I was taken into a room. There they stripped me and thrashed me. Then they left me and I slept. Next day they surrounded me again. I was hit all over," he adds.

"They again took me in car. I could hear them speaking on a cellular phone. The caller informed them that their men had been arrested and I should be released somewhere. Following this, they drove about an hour and at some place threw me out. After a while when I recovered a bit I realised that I was beside a canal in Roopnagar district. I stopped a truck and reached Attawa village from where I called the police. The police picked me up and took me to the Sector 16 General Hospital for medical examination."

Meanwhile, the police are yet to trace about a dozen persons allegedly involved in the incident. On a tip-off, a hideout was raided in Panchkula today but without success. Three persons including the SOPU chief are already under police remand.