Karnal, Nov. 8 -- Four armed miscreants allegedly held a security guard hostage for nearly eight hours and looted copper, batteries and other valuables worth Rs.5 lakh from a factory in Bahadurgarh city of Jhajjar district, police said on Saturday.

The accused entered the premises in Surya Nagar area during the intervening night of Friday and Saturday. They allegedly assaulted the guard, threatened him with a gun, and locked him in a room with his hands and feet tied, before ransacking the factory for nearly one-and-a-half hours.

The guard, identified as Ramesh Kumar, was found inside the room calling for help by his colleague Baleshwar at around 8am.

The duo then informed the police and the management of Akash International, owned by ...