‘Horrifying 5 minutes of my life’: SAIL chief Anil Kumar Chaudhary on attack

New Delhi (1 MIN READ): “It was a horrifying 5 minutes of my life”, SAIL Chairman Anil Kumar Chaudhary says as the four men who attacked him late on Wednesday night with iron rods and sharp-edged weapons were “clearly out to kill me”.

“The attack on me clearly showed their intention to kill me. At once, my heart came into the mouth when one of the attackers tried to hit on the head with the iron rod. Luckily, I moved out of the way in time. The rod hit me on my shoulder. They also punched me on my head and other body parts,” Chaudhary told IANS.

In a suspected conspiracy, Chaudhary, the Chairman and Managing Director of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) was allegedly attacked by four inebriated men in south Delhi’s Hudco Place near the upscale South Extension market on Wednesday night following deliberate attempts to hit his car.

Narrating the ordeal, Chaudhary told IANS that he was returning home from his office in Hudco Place to his residence in Defence Colony – just across the Ring Road – around 10.50 pm when the attack took place.

Reiterating that the assailants had a “definite intention to kill him”, he said that he was hit on his leg with a sharp-edged weapon as well as the iron rod leading to cut marks and blunt wounds.

Chaudhary said that he was on the rear seat of company’s official car and they had reached the Ansal tower on August Kranti Marg, when the assailants, in another car, intentionally grazed his car twice.

“When my driver stepped down from the car to check the damage, the attackers also stepped down and one of them held the driver by the neck. When I stepped down from the car to intervene, the three others overpowered me. They brutally kicked and punched me and one of the attackers pulled out an iron rod and sharp-edged weapons from their car with the intention to kill me.

“We were fortunate that a police motorbike patrol team was on the route and they intervened at the right time to save our lives,” Chaudhary said.

“I don’t have any personal animosity with anyone and also don’t know the accused persons,” he added.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, South, Vijay Kumar told IANS that the bike patrol team from the Defence Colony police station saw an assault taking place on the August Kranti Marg. “They immediately intervened and managed to nab two of the assailants, later identified as Lalit of Dwarka and Amardeep of Uttam Nagar,” he said.

“During investigation, it appeared that the accused were in inebriated condition at the time of incident. They also confessed that they had an iron rod in their car. Besides, they also had a paper cutter which they waved at Chaudhary during the assault. The paper cutter was recovered from them but it was not used by accused to stab him,” he added.

“We have checked the background of the accused. Amardeep is a labourer while Lalit confessed that they were involved in petty crime. We are checking the background of them and other two who managed to escape from the scene,” the DCP said.

“As per statement of Chaudhary, it does not look to be a case of robbery as all the valuables are intact with him and his driver,” he added.

Chaudhary received cuts in the leg and blunt wounds on his head, shoulders, chest and back. The police patrol took him and his driver to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, and he was released after preliminary treatment including stitches in legs.

“We have registered an FIR under Sections 307 (Attempt to murder) and 34 (common intension) of the Indian Penal Code in Hauz Khas police station and efforts are on to nab other two accused,” the DCP added.

Published on: Aug 9, 2019 at 19:59 IST

IANS