Itanagar: A zero FIR has been registered at the Papunallah Police Station near here after a 29-year-old man from Arunachal Pradesh and four accompanying labourers were allegedly abducted, assaulted and extorted at gunpoint in Assam’s Silapathar area in the early hours of Saturday, police said.
The victims, who were travelling from Menchuka to Itanagar in a private vehicle, had halted briefly near a small roadside shop around midnight when they were confronted by the armed group. The attackers, wielding firearms and machetes forcibly took the vehicle keys and demanded to see the Inner Line Permit (ILP) of the driver.
Despite the Arunachalee man asserting that ILP was not required for state natives and offering to show his identity card, the group reportedly refused to accept it. They then split the victims into two vehicles under the pretext of taking them to the police but suspiciously bypassed a stationary police van and diverted into a forested path.
Fearing for his life, the 29-year-old attempted to escape by leaping from the moving vehicle but was soon caught and physically assaulted. The abductors then allegedly demanded ₹3 lakh under gunpoint. The victim managed to contact his elder brother and convey the situation while being forced to speak only in Hindi — a detail that raised his brother’s suspicion.
“I knew that if I had transferred the full amount, they would have killed me. Even the labourers begged them to spare my life,” the victim recounted later.
Eventually, ₹60,000 was paid through Google Pay — ₹50,000 by the Arunachalee man and ₹10,000 by the labourers — following which the assailants released them with a warning not to report the matter.
Despite being chased for nearly 50 km after fleeing, the victims managed to escape after crossing the Subansiri bridge and reunited with the victim’s brothers near the hotel line. However, three individuals suspected to be part of the original group were allegedly seen lurking nearby.
Later, while returning, the group was again intercepted at Lakhimpur by a group of men — including the three suspected earlier — but they avoided confrontation and made their way safely into Arunachal Pradesh.
The FIR has been registered under Sections 309(4), 318, 326, 127, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act.
Meanwhile, inspector Gejum Basar from the Papunallah Police Station said the matter has now been transferred to the Silapathar Police Station in Assam and further investigation is underway.
Our efforts to contact the Silapathar Police were not successful.
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