Gurugram, Feb. 13 -- The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken a suo motu cognizance of an HT report on the alleged sexual assault and torture of five minor boys who were held captive for almost 18 hours inside an under-construction building at Nathupur in DLF Phase-III on suspicion of theft. NHRC, on the basis of the report published in HT on February 5, issued notice to the Gurugram police commissioner, calling for a detailed report on the matter within two weeks. "The NHRC has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report about five children, aged between 11 to 14 years, being held captive for 18 hours at an under-construction building in DLF Phase 3 area of Gurugram," its release on Wednesday read. Reportedly, minors were taken hostage by the contractor and his four workers on allegations that they were attempting to steal materials, such as rebars and other items from the under-construction building, police said. The victims were reportedly stripped, sexually assaulted, tortured and had petrol poured over them. They also allegedly branded their private parts with heating spoons on flames. "The commission has observed that the contents of the news report, if true, raise serious issues of violation of human rights," the release read. The incident had come to light when the mother of one of the victims approached the police to register a complaint on February 3. The complainant alleged that the accused made her and two other mothers sit with the children, hurling abuses at all of them, when they requested them to release their children. Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said that Gurugram police will submit a detailed report on the case to the commission as per its direction within the stipulated time. Police said one of the arrested men was the contractor overseeing the under-construction building, which was to be used as a PG, while the others were employed by him as workers at the site. "Two of the suspects were arrested on February 4. Teams are carrying out raids to arrest the other three suspects. We are also taking help from our cyber teams to trace their location," he said....