GHAZIABAD: A 30-year-old dentist returning home from her clinic in Vaishali was gagged and robbed at knifepoint inside a moving auto-rickshaw that she had boarded on Saturday night. The gang of four, including the auto driver, kept moving around the city for over an hour as the woman pleaded with them to release her.The dentist, who requested not to be identified, was slapped multiple times, blindfolded and her hands and legs tied. They took away her debit card, threatened her to disclose the PIN and withdrew Rs 20,000 on the way. They eventually dropped her “somewhere on the Taj highway” when she pleaded with them that she was pregnant and feeling unwell.The woman’s family alleged that the incident had exposed the slack patrolling by police along the stretch. An FIR was registered on Sunday evening against unidentified persons under Section 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery ) of the IPC.The dentist said she had shifted from her hometown in Uttarakhand 25 days ago and had since been staying with her sister and brother-in-law in Mahagunpuram. She was planning to shift to a rented accommodation in Vaishali on Tuesday as commuting to her clinic had become a “big hassle”, particularly at night.“After finishing my work at the clinic, I took an auto-rickshaw from Kala Patthar in Vaishali. Apart from the driver, there were three persons sitting inside. I thought they were passengers. After reaching Rahul Vihar, the driver did not take a U-turn to go towards Mahagunpuram via NH-24. Instead, he kept going straight,” the woman told TOI.“As soon as I confronted the driver for taking the wrong route, three of his accomplices started assaulting me. I tried to jump off the auto but they were holding me tight. They slapped me several times in the face and blindfolded me. If that wasn’t enough, they forced a piece of cloth into my mouth and tied my hands and legs. They searched my bag and took my mobile phone and ATM card. They threw away two SIM cards installed in my phone and started asking for my ATM PIN at knifepoint,” she added.Threatened, the dentist disclosed the PIN and pleaded with them to leave her. “They stopped the auto at a place and withdrew the money. It was only after about an hour and much coaxing that they agreed to release me. They finally dropped me somewhere on the Taj highway. From there, I took an auto-rickshaw and reached Mahagunpuram around 11pm. I narrated the ordeal to my relatives and they subsequently informed the police control room,” she said.The woman, who is married, said she visited Kavi Nagar police station the next day and lodged an FIR. “A police team went with me to the spot where I was dumped,” she added.The dentist’s brother-in-law blamed lack of patrolling along NH-24 for the incident. “She was lucky they did not harm her. She told us that they had asked for her house address and her religion,” he said.SP (city) Shlok Kumar said the case had been transferred to Indirapuram police station and an assistant superintendent of police is investigating it.

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