MP: Cops rescue woman, 2 minor daughters abducted at gunpoint; prime accused among 7 held

Chhatarpur (MP), Jun 22 (PTI) Police rescued a woman and her two minor daughters on Sunday, a day after they were abducted by more than a dozen armed men after opening fire and injuring her husband in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district and arrested seven persons over two days.

Acting swiftly and strategically, police rescued the woman and her daughters and arrested two more accused, including the prime accused Sanjay Rajput who was carrying a reward of Rs 10,000, as per a statement issued by the Office of the Superintendent of Police Agam Jain.

Police remained tight-lipped about how the abductees were traced and arrests were made.

A video, widely shared on social media, purportedly shows the accused carrying out the kidnapping in full public view.

"The incident (of kidnapping) occurred at around 12.30 pm on Saturday in Sumedi village, where the accused arrived on motorcycles and four-wheelers," said Sub-Divisional Police Officer Naveen Dubey.

They assaulted Hariram Pal and his family before abducting his wife and their daughters, aged 7 and 5, at gunpoint. They opened fire in the air, bundled the trio into an SUV and sped away.

Pal told reporters that he was shot at while trying to rescue his wife and children, but he survived.

Superintendent of Police Agam Jain constituted five special teams to trace the remaining accused and announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for leads, the official said.

Five of the accused were taken into custody and a case has been registered against them under various Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections, including the attempt to murder, the official said.

The Madhya Pradesh Home Department confirmed the registration of a case on X.

The incident triggered an outrage, with the opposition Congress slamming the BJP-led state government over the law-and-order situation in the state.

"A woman and her two children were kidnapped in broad daylight in Chhatarpur. The accused opened fire and forcibly took them away in a car," state Congress president Jitu Patwari said in a post on X.

Senior Congress leader and former state chief minister Kamal Nath also condemned the incident and claimed, "There is no fear of law left in Madhya Pradesh. Such film-style crimes point to a state of jungle raj. This is deeply worrying." PTI COR LAL GK NSK