Chhatarpur (MP), Jun 22 (PTI) A group of more than a dozen armed men allegedly abducted a woman and her two minor daughters after opening fire and injuring her husband in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place at around 12.30 pm on Saturday in Sumedi village under Lavkushnagar police station limits, where the accused arrived on motorcycles and four-wheelers, Sub-Divisional Police Officer Naveen Dubey said.

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Efforts were on to trace the woman and the two children, according to police.

Five of the accused have been taken into custody and a case has been registered against them under various Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections, including attempt to murder, the official said.

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Superintendent of Police Agam Jain has constituted five special teams to trace the remaining accused and announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for leads, the official said.

The attackers assaulted Hariram Pal and his family before abducting his wife and their daughters, aged 7 and 5, at gunpoint. The three were forced into an SUV and driven away as shots were fired in the air, the official said.

A video, widely shared on social media, purportedly shows the accused carrying out the kidnapping in full public view.

Pal told reporters that he was shot at while trying to rescue his wife and children, but he survived.

The incident has triggered an outrage, with the opposition Congress slamming the BJP-led state government over the law and order situation in the state.

"A woman and her two children were kidnapped in broad daylight in Chhatarpur. The accused opened fire and forcibly took them away in a car," state Congress president Jitu Patwari said in a post on X.

He claimed the state was making "new records of lawlessness" despite alarming figures of crimes against women, and questioned why Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, who also holds the home portfolio, was silent.

Senior Congress leader and former state chief minister Kamal Nath also condemned the incident and claimed, "There is no fear of law left in Madhya Pradesh. Such film-style crimes point to a state of jungle raj. This is deeply worrying."

The Madhya Pradesh Home Department in a post on X confirmed a case has been registered under multiple sections, including on charges of attempt to murder, in connection with the incident in Sumedi village.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)