Solan police have arrested three residents of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly attempting to murder a woman by pushing her into a gorge near Nagali village on the Solan-Dharampur road on Wednesday evening.

According to police, the Saproon police station received information that some youths had pushed a woman into a gorge near Nagali village. A police team from Solan immediately rushed to the spot, but the accused had fled by then. However, they were nabbed near Nagali village on the Solan-Dharampur highway within half an hour of the incident, said SP Solan Sai Dattatreya Varma.

The incident came to light after eyewitness Naresh Kumar informed the police that while he was returning to village Galog from Deoghat in his car at around 8.15 pm, he spotted three youths and a woman near Panch Parmeshwar temple on the roadside.

Naresh told police that one of the youths was holding the woman. Suspecting that they were trying to strangle her, he turned his vehicle back. On returning to the spot, he allegedly saw the youths pushing the woman around 80-100 metres into a gorge before walking towards Nagali.

During investigation at the crime scene, police found blood stains near the roadside parapet. With the help of local residents, the police rescued the woman, who had fallen onto the bypass road below and was found lying among bushes. She was rushed to the Regional Hospital, Solan, for treatment.

The arrested accused have been identified as Madan Kumar (28), Varsha (28) and Shivam (20), all residents of Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh. During questioning, police found that the victim, identified as Monika, is the wife of accused Dalip Kumar, who allegedly conspired with his cousin Shivam and friend Madan Kumar to kill her following a long-standing dispute between them. Police said the woman had been brought to Solan from Uttar Pradesh by her husband on the pretext of an excursion.

The accused were arrested within half an hour of the incident and will be produced before a court to seek their remand. Police are also verifying their past criminal records with the concerned authorities in Uttar Pradesh, SP Varma said.