Armed goons take away car in Panchkula; second carjacking in a week

In the second carjacking in a week in Panchkula, armed robbers took away a Maruti Suzuki Swift at gunpoint from the Sectors 27-28 dividing road on Thursday night.

Earlier on June 9, three men robbed a man of a Hyundai Verna outside a liquor vend in Sector 21. Significantly, in both cases, the carjackers targeted men relieving themselves on the roadside.

In the recent case, car owner Ramakesh, 38, a resident Rampur Jangi village in Pinjore, told the police that he started from Gokalgarh village in Ambala around 9.30pm in his white Maruti Swift (HR-07-V-2646) to reach his house in Pinjore. 

“As I reached near the Sector 27 army flats, I stopped to relieve myself around 11.30pm. As I was about to return to my car, three motorcycle-borne men stopped in front of it. They pulled me aside and as I tried to fight them, they brandished pistols at me,” Ramakesh alleged.

He said one of the men was wearing a helmet, while the other two had covered their faces with a piece of cloth. “Conversing in Haryanvi, they threatened to kill me and snatched my car’s keys. While two of them fled in my car, the third one followed them on the motorcycle,” he told the police. 

Police said the victim also lost his mobile phone, a wallet containing ₹1,000 in cash, four debit cards, a driving licence, PAN card and other documents, besides bank passbooks and car documents, that were in the car. 

Inspector Suresh Kumar, station house officer (SHO), Chandimandir police station, said the victim’s mobile phone was thrown somewhere near the dumping ground in Sector 23, according to tower location, and was yet to be recovered.

A case under Section 392 (robbery) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Arms Act has been registered.