Panipat police rescued a 35-year-old man within 20 hours of his abduction and arrested six accused, one of whom allegedly posed as a Delhi Police sub-inspector by wearing his retired father’s police uniform during the crime.

ASP Harshit Goyal said the victim, Dilawar, a wood contractor from Thirana village in Matlauda, was abducted late on Thursday night. According to police, five to six men arrived in a black SUV at the Thirana village bus stand and forcibly took him away.

Following a complaint by his father, Rajendra, the Matlauda police registered a case under Section 140(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and launched a search operation.

SP Bhupender Singh assigned the CIA-2 team to investigate the case and monitored the operation. Acting on intelligence inputs, the team raided Shyam Nagar in Sonipat on Friday morning, rescued Dilawar safely and arrested all six accused.

The accused have been identified as Rohit of Tihar Khurd, Manoj of Shyam Nagar, Neeraj of Barota, Suraj of Moi village, all in Sonipat district, and Anuj of Israna and Jatin of Palri village in Panipat district. Police also recovered the Delhi Police uniform allegedly used during the abduction.

During preliminary questioning, the accused told police that Manoj had worn the uniform of his father, a retired Delhi Police sub-inspector, during the abduction. Police said Dilawar was held hostage overnight at Rohit’s room in Shyam Nagar. Investigators will seek the accused’s police remand to ascertain the motive behind the abduction, identify any other conspirators and verify their criminal records, Goyal added.