Police comb through Jal Vayu towers for four hours for suspect who fled custody

Several police teams, including those from the crime branch, on Tuesday evening combed through every nook and corner of Jal Vayu Towers in Sector 56 for over four hours in search of a suspect who escaped custody earlier in the day. He was finally found lying flat atop an elevator duct on the 10th floor, police said on Wednesday.

Investigators said the suspect, Rajat Yadav, 23, was a resident of the Tower B in the same condominium and was arrested on November 27 in an alleged kidnapping and extortion case, registered at the Sector-9A police station on November 24.

He was taken on two-day police remand and was brought to the location on Tuesday afternoon to recover the car which he and his associate had used to allegedly kidnap a 12-year-old boy from near a park in Sector-9A on the evening of November 21.

They said a four-member police team from Sector 9A police station, led by an assistant sub-inspector Padam Singh, reached Jal Vayu Towers around 1.30pm Tuesday and successfully recovered the car.

They said one of the constables was sent back with the car and the rest of them were putting the suspect back inside the police vehicle when he pushed away the home guard personnel holding him and fled.

Investigators said the ASI and two others gave chase but Yadav vanished behind the trees and the cars parked inside the condominium. Senior officers were immediately alerted about the situation.

Crime branch teams as well as personnel from Sector-9A and Sector-56 police stations rushed to the spot and launched a manhunt for Yadav.

“It took us nearly four hours to find him inside the condominium,” a senior police officer said, asking not to be named.

The officer said personnel were deployed at all three entrances of the condominium to stop Yadav from escaping. He said teams then systematically knocked on all apartment doors in all towers looking for Yadav.

Police said it was on the 10th floor in Tower F that they finally found him.

“Besides manning all three entrances, personnel spread out everywhere. They started the search around 3pm and were finally able to locate him on the 10th floor by 7pm. He was spotted by a crime branch personnel who managed to climb above the elevator duct where the motor and lift control panel were fixed,” he said.

A guard deployed at the Jal Vayu Towers said the police kept vigil at all the three entrances until they caught the suspect from the terrace of Tower-F. “The police checked with residents in every apartment. They left the premises after 7pm,” said the guard, asking not to be named. The RWA members could not be reached for a comment despite several attempts.

“His associate in the alleged kidnapping case is yet to be arrested. They had taken the child hostage at gunpoint and later asked him to bring money from home. They child took ₹80,000 from father’s cupboard and allegedly handed it over to the duo,” the police officer said.

Inspector Sanjeev Kumar, station house officer of Sector-56 police station, said a separate FIR was registered against the suspect under Section 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) of Indian Penal Code for escaping police custody.