Sangrur arhtiya kidnap: Four held, ₹15L ransom recovered
He was kidnapped on July 17 from near Kamper village; the accused had intercepted his car and took him to Kakrala Bhaika village
SANGRUR : The district police here on Thursday revealed they had arrested four of the six men who allegedly kidnapped an arhtiya (commission agent) on July 17 and freed him after taking a ransom of ₹26 lakh the same day. The arrests were made on Wednesday and ₹15 lakh of the ransom money recovered, said the police.
Giving details at a press conference, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu said Kapil Dev, 45, a resident of Dirba, was kidnapped on July 17 from near Kamper village around 6.30 in the morning when he was returning home after dropping his son to a college in a car. The men intercepted his car and took him to Kakrala Bhaika village near Patran in Patiala district.
“Initially they demanded ₹1.25 crore as ransom, but, as he showed helplessness in paying that much, they agreed at ₹26 lakh. They released him after getting the ransom the same day,” said Sidhu. After two days, Dev approached the police, said the SSP, “and we nabbed the kidnappers on July 26 at a checkpost near Kamaalpur”.
The arrested accused are Kulwinder Singh alias Kala, 26, and Happy Singh alias Doctor, 27, of Diwangarh Kamper; Ravinder Singh alias Vicky, 32, of Kunran; and Beant Singh alias Gaggi Chhajli. However, Ranjit Singh alias Jeeti from Kohrian and Gurpiyar Singh from Ughrana are absconding.
Police registered a case under sections 364A (kidnapping for ransom) and 384 (extortion) besides other charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Dirba police station.
“Though all the accused have a criminal background, the kingpin is Kulwinder Kala, who is now in custody. They met in the Sangrur jail and identified Dev as a soft target. We seized weapons, a bike and a Maruti Swift car from them,” said the senior superintendent of police.
He said they did not use any mobile phone and even the car had a fake number.
Dev said, “They had threatened me to kill me if I approached the police after release, but after two days I approached the police who then nabbed them.”