Kidnapped Gonda boy recovered within 24 hours, five arrested
LUCKNOW:Within 24 hours, the UP Special Task Force (STF) and local police teams recovered the five-year-old grandson of a bidi trader who was kidnapped in Gonda district on Friday. Five people, including a couple, were arrested after an encounter. A pistol and two country-made guns were recovered from the kidnappers.
The child remained with the kidnappers for around 16 hours.
“The child kidnapped in Gonda has been recovered and all kidnappers arrested. Rs 2 lakh reward has also been announced for the joint team of police and STF for the successful operation,” said Uttar Pradesh additional chief secretary (home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi.
The child is the grandson of a known bidi trader in Colnelganj. The family was asked to pay a ransom of Rs 4 crore.
As per a press statement
issued by the STF,” one Suraj Pandey and his wife Chhavi masterminded the kidnapping along with Raj Pandey (their relative), Umesh Yadav and Deepu Kashyap. The accused are residents of Gonda district. Umesh and Deepu have been injured in an encounter with the police and STF.”
According to police, two of the accused who were from the same locality told the mastermind about the family after which they planned the kidnapping, hoping to get the ransom easily.
The incident occurred in Colonelganj area of Gonda,, 90 km east of the state capital. According to police, a man approached the family in the afternoon claiming to be distributing free masks and sanitizers given by the government. He asked the child to accompany him to his vehicle to fetch the masks and sanitizers. The boy went with him and the man forced him in the car and fled from the spot..
The family members tried to search for the boy and later informed the police. The family’s worst fears turned true when the father received a phone call from a woman who asked him for Rs 4 crore as ransom for his son’s return.
Police lodged an FIR and launched a search operation to recover him. All police teams in Gonda and adjoining districts were also put on alert.
After recovery, the boy said the kidnappers blindfolded him and took him to a house. He was locked inside a room and given some chips to eat. The kidnappers warned him to not remove the cloth over his eyes and kept coming to his room at regular intervals.
Probe revealed that Chhavi Pandey, wife of the mastermind, made the ransom call to the boy’s grandfather Rajesh Gupta. She told the family to not approach police and make arrangements for the money. Gupta, however, recorded the call and shared it with the police.
Police said the accused were inexperienced. They conducted a recce in the area before kidnapping but had no plan of escaping with the child. They believed that the family would not approach the police and pay the ransom.