About 200-250 residents of Ganauli village in Loni blocked the Banthla-Chirodi Road on Tuesday afternoon, protesting the police’s alleged failure to rescue a 42-year-old man who was allegedly shot multiple times and abducted by rivals in the village four days ago.According to police, the two groups have a history of rivalry that escalated during a village panchayat meeting last week, leading to another altercation. (Sakib Ali/HT Photos)Police said Omkar Singh, who runs a milk business and lives in Ganauli, was headed to a market around 7am on Saturday when five named suspects and several unidentified accomplices, all residents of the same village, allegedly intercepted him. The suspects allegedly shot Singh multiple times before forcing him into a Swift car and fleeing.According to police, the two groups have a history of rivalry that escalated during a village panchayat meeting last week, leading to another altercation.Police said they recovered bloodstains and six to seven spent bullet cartridges from the spot and registered an FIR at Loni police station on May 30 under Sections 109(1) (attempted murder), 140(3) (kidnapping/abduction) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.“So far, we have arrested five members of the suspects’ families, including two women. These people were involved in planning the incident and providing shelter to the accused. However, the five named suspects are yet to be arrested, and around 10 teams are working to trace them and the Swift car used in the crime,” deputy commissioner of police (rural) Surendra Nath Tiwari told HT.“The suspects fled in a car after abducting the man and CCTV footage shows that they travelled towards Meerut. The chain of footage is not complete, and our teams are trying to trace the car, the suspects and the victim,” the DCP added.The victim’s family, however, said they were dissatisfied with the progress of the investigation.“There has been no headway in the case till Tuesday. Families of the suspects live in Ganauli and they have left the village after locking up their houses. Police made several arrests, but they are relatives of the suspects. The actual suspects who abducted my brother have not been traced for the past four days, and there is no information about whether he is dead or alive. So, residents staged a protest and sat on the road,” Surendra Singh, the victim’s brother, told HT.He said there is currently a heavy police presence in Ganauli.“Police are deployed even near our houses. They say the suspects or their associates may target other members of our family and are advising us not to move around unnecessarily. We are worried about the safety of my brother, and every hour passes with great difficulty for the entire family,” Singh added.Several women also joined the protest on Tuesday.“For the past four days, we have only received assurances and no concrete results. We want our family member to be traced and rescued,” a woman from the family said.Senior police officers said a reward of ₹25,000 each has been announced for information leading to the arrest of the five absconding suspects named in the FIR. Police said efforts are also underway to identify and trace other accomplices involved in the crime.The DCP said police were trying to persuade protesters to lift the road blockade and had diverted traffic from the stretch.“We have also deployed our teams and personnel from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to search drains, canals and rivers in the region. We are trying our best to apprehend the suspects at the earliest,” he added.Ganauli is the native village of Loni BJP MLA Nand Kishor Gurjar.“It is a failure on the part of the police that they have been unable to recover the abducted man even after four days. Ganauli is my native village and I have spoken to senior officers. I stand with the victim’s family and demand strict action against those involved,” Gurjar told HT.