Thane: Student beaten up by rickshaw driver, 3 others; seriously injured

Thane: A 22-year-old college student was seriously injured after he was allegedly attacked in Thane with a sword, by a group of miscreants including the driver of an auto rickshaw in which he was travelling, police said on Tuesday.

According to the complaint filed by victim Rahul Pandey on Monday, the incident took place in Sathe Nagar locality of Wagle Estate here on late Sunday night, when he set out to attend a friend's birthday party and hailed an auto to reach the destination, they said.

Enroute, when Pandey stopped the rickshaw to attend nature's call, the driver, Pawan Tiwari along with three of his occupant friends demanded money from him to buy cigarettes.

When Pandey refused, an altercation ensued and an annoyed Tiwari along with the trio allegedly beat him up. The assailants then dragged him into the auto and forcibly took him to an isolated spot nearby. When he tried to escape by jumping from the auto, the accused attacked him with a sword, police said in a release quoting the complaint.

The college student then managed to flee the spot by boarding another rickshaw and got himself admitted to the civil hospital in Thane in the wee hours of Monday.

Wagle Estate police have booked the accused under sections 363 (kidnap), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and other relevant sections of the

IPC besides sections 4 and 25 of the Arms act along with Bombay Police Act sections 37(1) and 135.

However, no arrests have been made so far in the case as all the four accused are on the run.