Former NSUI Punjab president booked for holding PU research scholar hostage

Local police on Thursday booked former state National Student Union of India (NSUI) president Akshay Sharma for allegedly holding a Panjab University, Chandigarh, philosophy scholar hostage at the house of Daaman Bajwa, state secretary of Punjab BJP, and extorting ₹98,000 lakh from him.

Sharma is contesting for the post of president of the Punjab Youth Congress.

The accused allegedly held the scholar, identified as Kanwaljit Singh, hostage for hours and later released him after extorting money. Police have registered a case against Sharma under Section 347 (wrongful confinement to extort property), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Sunam City police station.

The incident was also recorded in the CCTV cameras installed in the house of Bajwa, police said. Daaman Bajwa had joined the BJP after Congress denied her ticket for the last assembly polls. Police have recovered the footage.

Meanwhile, the victim, in his complaint to the police, said that Sharma knew him from the university.

“He was looking for a team to help him garner votes and for making people members of the youth Congress. As I am associated with research work and sometimes take help from professionals in sample collection. Therefore, he asked me to get him a team, Kanwaljit said in his complaint.

“Later, a team worked for him, but he did not clear their dues. I was a middleman, and the team was pressurising me to get their pending dues. On April 4, Akshay called me to Bhawanigarh to collect the pending payment. Later, he changed the location to Daaman Bajwa’s house. When I reached there, Sharma snatched my and my friend’s mobile phone. After getting my phone unlocked, he transferred ₹98,000 from my account,” Kanwaljit said.

Ajay Kumar, SHO Sunam, said, “We are investigating the case and will take action accordingly.” Sharma is yet to be arrested.

Sangrur SSP Surendra Lamba said, “Police are verifying the facts, and if anyone’s involvement comes to the fore, they will be nominated.”

Harmandev Bajwa, the husband of Daaman Bajwa, accepted that both parties met at his house to settle their dispute.

“There was some financial dispute between both parties, and they came to my house to resolve the issue. Akshay Sharma is like my younger brother. The allegations against Sharma are false, and nothing happened as alleged by Kanwaljit.”