Loan collectors hold 34 workers hostage on Agra bus
The incident occurred in the area of the Malpura police station as the bus was traveling to Panna in Madhya Pradesh from Gurgaon in Haryana, police said.
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said the bus driver, staff and passengers are safe.
“Regarding the bus incident in Agra, the finance company illegally seized the bus. The driver, staff and passengers are safe and sound. The owner of the bus died yesterday (Tuesday) and his son is proceeding with the last rites, “he said in a statement.
However, the statement did not mention where the bus was.
Agra Police Chief Superintendent Babloo Kumar said three people who got off the bus informed police that representatives of the finance company boarded the vehicle.
“Preliminary information reveals that the bus was taken away by people from a finance company that financed the vehicle. A case has been registered and police teams trained to search for it,” he said.
He said it was a finance incident and the men’s action was “bold.”
The registration number of the sleeper bus is UP75M 3516 (Etawah in UP) but it is owned by a private operator in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, according to police.
Kumar said the episode began around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday when the bus was near the Raibha toll booth at the Dakshin ring road and eight-nine young men in two SUVs pulled it over.
The men claimed they were from the finance company and asked the bus driver to get off, but he ignored them and continued on the journey, he said.
“The men in the SUV then chased the bus and caught up with it in the Malpura area. They got on the bus and forcibly dismounted the driver and the driver. They also told the passengers not to. shout and assured them that no harm would be done to them., “he added.
Four of the men later boarded the bus and sped down the Delhi-Kanpur highway, Kumar said.
He said the driver and bus driver were taken to one of the SUVs and dropped off in the Kuberpur area on the highway around 4 a.m., after which they called for help from the local police. .
Police personnel, including the district police chief, then reached the scene and a search operation was launched to locate the bus, he said.