A community activist has been left stunned after he was kidnapped and beaten up by a group of men from his home in Rochdale.

Chairman of the Wardleworth Community Centre, Helal Choudhury is now recovering after his shocking ordeal last night.

He had come home at around 8pm following a meeting when he was approached by six men outside his house on Ramsay Terrace.

Mr Choudhury cried out for help and neighbours tried to come to his rescue but they were threatened by his abductor.

The men then drove off towards Ramsay Street and neighbours called the police.

One witness said: "I still can't believe what happened.

"I was outside my house watching my children play when I noticed a group of Asian men outside Helal's home. They were trying to get Helal into their car and he was struggling with them.

"They were young strong men and were hitting him as they dragged him into the car by his feet.

"He was shouting for help. I even went up to them to tell them to stop but they told me get lost.

"I rang the police straightaway.

"It has left the whole street in shock. Incidents like this don't happen in Rochdale and certainly not in this area.
"Helal is a very well respected man and nobody could believe what had happened to him."

Mr Choudhury, who is still too stunned to talk about his ordeal, was later returned by his abductors who dropped him off near his home almost an hour later.

He was left with cuts and bruises to his head, face, arms and legs and was taken to Rochdale Infirmary by his local councillors Farooq Ahmed and Ibrar Khan.

The local community have also been rallying behind him with up to 30 visitors at the hospital last night inquiring about what had happened. An emergency meeting was also held at the Bangladeshi Association Community Project to discuss the incident with a plea to local residents not to worry and to keep calm.

Councillor Khan said the incident had left many people in Wardleworth terrified.

"Helal is a very popular man and most people can't believe that he was kidnapped right outside his home," he said.
"People have been genuinely concerned about his welfare.

"We hope the culprits behind this get caught."

Councillor Ahmed added: "When I got a call that Helal had been kidnapped I thought it was a joke. He is such a nice guy very popular in the community and we can't believe anybody would want to hurt him.

"The local community have been really supportive and we held a meeting with everybody so people know what had happened and just to let people know that the situation was calm now and not to worry.

"Helal is still in shock and we hope he gets better very soon."