Abducted 5-year-old boy rescued within 16 hours, three held
A five-year-old boy, who was kidnapped on Thursday night, allegedly by his two tenants and a neighbour from his west Delhi’s Ranhola home for Rs 10 lakh ransom, was safely rescued from Ludhiana in Punjab within 16 hours of the crime, police said on Saturday.
The three alleged kidnappers were also arrested by the outer Delhi police. Police said the three had executed the kidnapping to extort money from the boy’s parents. The three needed money to pay off their debts and start their business.
The arrested persons have been identified as Surender (19), Ashish (22), and Sunil (25), all natives of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. They all worked as marble labourers. Surender and Sunil were staying as tenants at the boy’s home for the last two months. Ashish lived in a nearby home as a tenant, the police said.
Pankaj Kumar Singh, deputy commissioner of police (outer), said that on Thursday around 7pm, the child’s mother left him at home and went to a neighbour’s home for some work. When she returned her son Santosh was missing. “She initially thought that he must have gone to a neighbour’s house. But when he did not return till late in the night, she panicked and began looking for him. She informed her husband and other family members,” said Singh.
The boy’s family approached the Ranhola police after they failed to locate him.
A case of kidnapping was registered and investigation was taken up. During the probe, the role of the two tenants and their friend living in the neighbourhood came under scanner as they too were missing.
On Friday around 3pm, the child’s father received a call from his tenant Surender who told him that his son was in his custody and demanded Rs 10 lakh for his safe release.
Police interrogated the relatives of the three suspects. They got a vital clue that the suspects could have fled to Ludhiana with the child.
“Our team reached Ludhiana and raided a house in Raj Guru Nagar Extension. The child was rescued and the three kidnappers were arrested,” said Singh adding that the home belonged to the relative of one of the kidnappers.