The Madhya Pradesh Police on Sunday (June 22, 2025) found a woman and her two minor daughters, allegedly abducted at gunpoint from their home in Chhatarpur district, from Haryana’s Bhiwani, police officers said, adding that a total of seven men, including the prime accused, have also been arrested.  

The alleged abduction took place on Saturday in Chhatarpur’s Sumedi village, under Lavkushnagar police station limits, when about a dozen men, carrying firearms and sticks, took the woman and her daughters, aged 7 and 5, from their home in broad daylight at around 12.30 p.m. 

The men had also thrashed the woman’s husband Hariram Pal and opened fires in the air before leaving in a car and motorbikes. A video of the incident has also gone viral on social media. 

Lavkushnagar sub-divisional police officer (SDOP) Naveen Dubey told The Hindu that the woman and children were found with the prime accused, identified as Sanjay Rajput, who had taken them to Bhiwani after the abduction. 

Mr. Dubey said that six more men, involved in the incident, have been arrested from different parts of Chhatarpur, while at least four police teams are currently conducting raids to nab others. “All remaining suspects have been identified,” he said.

“Based on the inputs from the men arrested from here, we traced Sanjay Rajput to Haryana’s Bhiwani and a team was sent there. The local police there helped us find them,” Mr. Dubey said, that the accused and the three victims will leave from Haryana after finishing the formalities at the local police station. 

“They are expected to arrive here [Chhatarpur] on Monday morning after which we will question Rajput and the woman,” he said. 

Mr. Dubey said that the neighbours and family members of the woman have revealed that she and Mr. Rajput had been in a relationship for about two years.

“The family had known about this for a while and had asked him [Mr. Rajput] to stop coming to their house. They even had some disputes over the past few months and had a fight last week, after which he planned the abduction,” the SDOP said. 

Mr. Dubey, however, said that it is yet to be ascertained whether the woman had anything to do with the planning or if she “went wilfully” with the accused. 

“We will question her about these aspects once they reach here,” he said. 

After the video went viral, Chhatarpur Superintendent of Police (SP) Agam Jain had formed five teams to trace the victims and had also declared a reward of Rs10,000 on the accused. 

A case under relevant charges, including kidnapping, attempt to murder and assault, as per the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as well as under the Arms Act had been filed on Saturday, Mr. Dubey said. 

The police have also seized at least four vehicles involved in the abduction.