Haryana police have arrested three accused involved in the kidnapping, assault, and armed robbery of a taxi driver, recovering the looted vehicle, country-made pistols, and live cartridges, officials said.
The complainant, Pankaj, a resident of Sirsa district and tenant in Kharar, was operating his Tata Nexon taxi when he received an online booking for a trip from Mohali to Ramgarh early on November 19.
Police said four men — Rohit Dhiman, Satbir, Bittu Thakur, and a fourth accomplice, Hamza — boarded the taxi at Kharar around 5 am. The journey was uneventful until 6:30 am near an isolated stretch on the main highway in Ramgarh, Panchkula district.
There, the accused forced the driver to stop, pulled him out of the vehicle, assaulted him, and threatened him with a country-made pistol before fleeing with the taxi.
Acting swiftly on November 20, the Sector 26 crime branch traced and arrested Rohit Dhiman and Bittu Thakur, both residents of Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh, during raids in Paonta Sahib. One pistol and four live rounds were recovered from the vehicle’s dashboard.
Investigations revealed that the car had been booked via the InDrive app using a phone that had been stolen in Chandigarh the previous night, indicating a pre-planned operation.
Further raids in Khizrabad, Yamunanagar, led to the arrest of Satbir and the recovery of the stolen Tata Nexon (PB01C-8574), two pistols, and six live cartridges. Police said the fourth accused, Hamza, remains at large.
Authorities disclosed that the gang had planned to murder a local youth, Rishabh, and targeted the taxi to use a vehicle unconnected to them for the crime.
The case is registered at Chandimandir police station under Sections 115(2), 304, 3(5), 309(6), 351(2) of the BNS, along with Sections 25, 54, 59 of the Arms Act. Police are investigating whether the accused are linked to other robberies or vehicle thefts in Haryana, Punjab, or Himachal Pradesh and have launched a manhunt for Hamza.
