Delhi man seeking to meet online female friend gets abducted, rescued hours later; 1 held

New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) Delhi Police has rescued a 20-year-old man who was kidnapped and assaulted by a group after being lured by a woman with whom he was in contact with on social media over the past couple of months., an official said on Friday.

One of the accused have been arrested with police sources saying that preliminary investigation suggesting extortion as the motive behind the kidnapping and assault.

According to police, the victim Nikhil had been in contact with a girl, Khushi, on social media for the past two months. On July 3, he left home saying he is to meet her, but later that day, his sister received a call from his number.

The caller claimed to be the girl's brother and said that Nikhil had been caught with Khushi and would not be released. The phone was then switched off, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Abhishek Dhania said.

His sister then approached the Shakarpur police station and a team was promptly formed to trace Nikhil.

Initially his last location was tracked to Sector-6 in Noida, but no lead was found there. Later, when Nikhil's phone was switched on briefly, its location was traced to Yamuna Khadar near Mayur Vihar Metro Station.

"The team immediately rushed to the spot where they found a group of men assaulting the victim. Upon seeing the police, the attackers tried to flee, abandoning their motorcycles," the officer said.

One of the accused, Sanjeev Kumar Lohia (31), from Trilokpuri, was arrested and Nikhil's mobile phone was recovered from his possession, the DCP added.

During interrogation, Nikhil revealed that he had met Khushi earlier that day and she had taken him to Indirapuram Mall. Later, five men intercepted them near a metro station and forcibly took him away.

He alleged that Khushi was part of the conspiracy and had coordinated with the attackers.

A case was registered at Shakarpur Police Station and further investigation is underway, police said.

"Multiple teams have been formed to trace the remaining accused, including Khushi. We also caution while interacting with strangers online and report any suspicious activity immediately," Dhania added. PTI BM BM OZ OZ