I wish to forget the nightmare and I am happy now’
The police then realised that the driver along with his associates pre-planned the kidnapping and took all precautions to conceal their identity by preparing a fake paper trail well in advance.
For 12 days over 200 police personnel stayed in sugarcane fields, camped in villages, fields, canals, jungles to trace the accused and rescue Goud.
The abductors used Goud’s phone to make the ransom calls to Ola and shifted locations frequently, Yadav said.
“They were shuttling between Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, Baghpat, Hapur, Meerut, Bijnor, Muzzafarnagar and Haridwar. We tried using technical surveillance but it failed so we had to resort to local intelligence for inputs. We roped in UP police, special cell and police from other districts for the purpose,” Yadav said.
During one search operation, we managed to trace the cab used for abduction. “When we searched the vehicle, we found a few masks that they kept for hiding their face at the time of receiving the money, rubber bands to stack the money, aluminium foil to cover the GPS,” Yadav said.
Finally on July 19, a specific input was received about the location of abductors and the victim. A raid was conducted and the house was cordoned off. “When the kidnappers realised that they have been surrounded, they opened fire. Police returned fire. Pramod sustained bullet injuries on his left leg. The victim was safely rescued,” Yadav said.
“It was a nightmare. But I wish to forget about it. I am happy I came out alive, all thanks to Delhi Police,” that is what Dr Sreekanth Goud kept repeating on Thursday during a press conference after he was rescued from the clutches of abductors.
Goud now wishes to return his home in Telengana. He said the abductors kept him in villages, fed him twice a day, thrashed him when he resisted.
“We are glad he is back. We now wish to take him back home and celebrate his release. We are not sure if we want him to work in Delhi,” Goud’s uncle said.
Meanwhile, Ola too issued a statement. “We are extremely relieved on the safe return of Dr. Sreekanth Goud. The last few days have been extremely stressful for Dr. Sreekanth and his family. We extend our good wishes and prayers to the family. We are grateful for the enormous effort and degree of diligence from the police. We continue to cooperate with the police in their investigations, to ensure that the culprits are brought to justice. We will also continue to support and assist the family to help them fully recover from the aftershocks of this harrowing crime,” an Ola spokesperson said.