Kamal Ghorui
GURGAON: A food vendor abducted a 23-year-old woman from Leopard Trail, a popular picnic spot in the Aravalis, shoved her into a borrowed Scorpio and drove around the city with police in pursuit in the early hours of Sunday.The food seller, Gaurav Bhati (25), abandoned the Scorpio and fled when one of its tyres got stuck in mud at Pandala village, around an hour after he had abducted her. Bhati has been arrested and charged with kidnapping and snatching. Police are waiting for the woman’s magisterial statement before adding sexual assault charges, sources said.Late on Saturday, the woman and a colleague had driven to Leopard Trail. They reached around 1.30am and spent an hour and a half there. Bhati allegedly harassed the two when they were sitting in their car. When the duo confronted him, an argument started. Amid a heated exchange, Bhati allegedly snatched her phone and began running towards the Scorpio he was driving. When she chased him, he grabbed her and pushed her into the SUV, locked the door and drove off, sources said. Her colleague tried to intervene, but Bhati pushed him away. As Bhati sped away with her, the colleague informed police and shared details of Bhati’s vehicle. Police tracked down the SUV using the woman’s phone location. Sources said Bhati drove in random directions, going to Southern Peripheral Road, Subhash Chowk and Sector 74, before taking the woman to a secluded, hilly forested area.However, the Scorpio, which Bhati had borrowed from another food vendor, stalled as he drove through mud paths. When she screamed for help, he got off and fled. Police reached the spot and rescued the woman. The Scorpio’s registration details took them to its owner, who told them Bhati had taken his car to buy liquor. Three police teams that were formed to trace Bhati arrested him within a few hours, police said. A forensic team visited the area and collected evidence. Location data is being analysed to reconstruct the sequence of events, police said.“A medical examination confirmed that the accused was intoxicated at the time of the crime. When Bhati was taken back to the hills for a recreation of the crime scene, he attempted to escape. During the bid to flee, he tripped and fell in the rugged terrain, resulting in a fracture to his right leg and injuries to the face. He was hospitalised under custody,” a police officer said.After being discharged, Bhati was produced before a local court and remanded in judicial custody. An FIR was initially registered against him under BNS sections 137(2) (kidnapping) and 304(2) (snatching). Police later added sections related to custodial escape and obstructing a public servant in the discharge of official duties.
