Kids bunking off school trigger kidnapping calls

IN A TIZZY The police spent four hours looking for the boys in several places, including India Gate, but they returned to their schools

OCTOBER 11: A three-year-old child was kidnapped allegedly by a Delhi University student and her minor brother for a ransom of R5 crore in southwest Delhi's Ghitorni near Vasant Kunj. Police caught the sister-brother duo and se dekh rescued the child from a rented flat where he was gagged, locked for almost 20 hours.

OCTOBER 8: A seven-year-old child was kidnapped from outer Delhi's Mundka allegedly by his 24-year-old neighbour, who was angry with the child's father because he had refused to give him a R5,000 loan. Child was rescued within 72 hours from Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh.

FEBRUARY 1: A 10-year-old boy was kidnapped for a ransom of R1 crore allegedly by three men while he was returning home after tuition with his sister in east Delhi's Jyoti Nagar. The child was rescued and the accused were arrested.

JANUARY 25: A Class 1 student was kidnapped allegedly by bike-borne kidnappers while he was on the way to school in east Delhi in the school bus along with his sister and 20 other students. The kidnappers had fired at the bus staff when they attempted to save the child. The child was rescued 12 days later from a flat in Ghaziabad after a shootout.

FOR ALMOST FOUR HOURS, AROUND 80 PERSONNEL OF THE RK PURAM AND SOUTH CAMPUS POLICE STATIONS CONDUCTED A SEARCH OPERATION

alleged that his son was kidnapped from outside his school in RK Puram. Police met the caller, who claimed that the school authorities had informed him that his son had not come to school and that he is missing.

“The man claimed that he had dropped his son off at the school on his scooter around 7 am. But the school authorities told him that his son had not come to school. The school authorities told us that not one but two Class 6 students were missing,” said the officer.

The matter was brought to the notice of deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Devendra Arya, who formed eight teams to trace the missing students. The teams scanned footage of around two dozen CCTV cameras from in and around the school and questioned several people in the

neighbourhood for clues. The two boys were seen in one of the cameras, walking on the road outside the school.

“We spoke to some of their classmates. Initially, nobody shared anything as they feared action from the school administration and their parents as well. When convinced that their names will not be disclosed, a few of them told us about their plan to visit India Gate,” the officer maintained.

Five police teams reached India Gate and scanned the lawns for almost three hours but the missing boys could not be found. As they were preparing to leave to search other visiting places frequented by children, the two boys returned to their school around 11.30 am.

“Our consellors and teachers of the school counselled the two boys,” the officer said, adding that many of the same police staff pressed into action once again after they received a call pertaining to the kidnapping of a threeyear-old boy from outside his Ghitorni home at 6.30 pm. The child was safely rescued from a locked flat near his home and his kidnappers — the DU student and his minor brother — were caught within 20 hours of the crime.