I heard them plan my murder: Victim

By Praveen Kumar | NT

Bengaluru: Ranajn Kumar Paswan was on his way home to  the Solur railway quarters when a silver MultiPurpose Vehicle pulled up  beside him. The 31-yearold trackman was suddenly face-to-face with two  burly men, both claiming  to be police officers. Ranjan, who had dropped his  parents off at Yeshwantpur Railway Station, was  suddenly being called a  smuggler by two men he  had never seen before.  They told him to get off  his bike, saying they  needed to check the vehicle. When he did, they  dragged into their  vehicle.

The victim, Ranjan Kumar Paswan, told News  Trail that the ordeal lasted for over one, harrowing hour. As the two men  drove off with him in  their vehicle, they proceeded to beat and torture  him.

Paswan, who works at  Solur railway line as a  trackman, was returning  home when he was waylaid. “One man looked  like a cop. They forced me  into their MPV near the  Gudemaranahalli handpost on Magadi Main  Road. They drove around  the city for almost 70 minutes, beating and kicking  me. They snatched my  debit card and forced me  to reveal the PIN. When I  refused, they threatened  to shoot me with their service revolver. I didn’t see  any gun,” Paswan told  NT. When Paswan relented and gave them his  bank details, the accused  stopped at a KSRTC bus  stand and withdrew Rs  3000. Later, they also took  the cash he carried in his  purse.

Things took an even  more chilling turn when  Ranjan, now devoid of his  ATM card, heard the men  discuss their plans for  him. “I heard them saying  that they wanted to kill  me and throw my body in  the Mahadevapura forest  area.” He panicked and  decided to risk jumping  from the moving vehicle.  “I ran fast and the accused did not follow me,  so I used the darkness to  my advantage and escaped,” Paswan said. He  made it safely back to his  quarters and filed a complaint in the Magadi subdivision police limits. The MPV is said to be  grey in colour and the victim was unable to see the  registration number. After finding help, the victim has filed a police  complaint.

“The incident happened between 11.50 pm  and 1 am last week. After  the complaint was filed,  we went through the  CCTV footage of the ATM  centre and at the spot  where he was forcibly  pulled into the MPV. The  ATM transaction happened at 12.17 am. The accused are yet to be arrested,” said an officer who is  part of investigations. A case of causing hurt  in committing robbery  under section 394 of the  Indian Penal Code has  been registered against  the unidentified accused. Further investigations  are on.