Boy kidnapped by cousin for ₹1-crore ransom rescued
NEWDELHI:A 10-year-old boy who was kidnapped while walking to his tuition centre in east Delhi’s Jyoti Nagar on Monday evening was safely rescued from a public park on Tuesday night, police said. The kidnappers had allegedly demanded ₹1 crore as ransom from the boy’s father who owns two printing press units in Delhi-ncr.
The police have arrested a current and a former employee of the boy’s father for the kidnapping. However, it was the boy’s maternal cousin, Mohsin — a close confidante of the boy’s father — who had allegedly masterminded the kidnapping, said AK Singla, DCP (northeast). He was on the run at the time of filing this report.the boy, a student of Class 5 at a private school, lived with his parents and three siblings. His father employed about 60 people in his factory.
“The boy’s father was seen as a successful businessman in his society. He trusted his nephew, Mohsin, with the work and even tasked him with making and receiving phone calls on his behalf,” said the DCP.
Seeking “easy money”, Mohsin roped in Tareeq and Danish to allegedly kidnap the boy. While Tareeq was working for the boy’s father, Danish was a former employee.
On Monday, the boy and his siblings were on their way to tuition near their house when the duo lured him away on the pretext of showing the way to his uncle’s home. “My sister told me not to go with them, but I wanted to help,” the boy said.
When the boy did not return home, a police complaint was filed and a search operation initiated the same day, said the DCP. The first of the many ransom calls was received by the boy’s father around noon on Tuesday. The kidnapper allegedly said that he knew all about the family’s ongoing activities and any attempts to inform the police about the ransom call could risk the boy’s life.
“We maintained utmost secrecy in our operation. We ensured that the boy’s father did not tell even his mother about the ransom call. Instead of operating from the local police station, the centre for the rescue operation was the office of the DCP,” said an investigator.
As the boy’s father negotiated with the kidnappers and tried to arrange for the ransom amount, police sent a team to Panipat from where the kidnappers had made the call from a PCO.
“The kidnappers had taken the boy to Panipat in a bus and stayed in an inn there. On Tuesday, they brought him back to Delhi and made many calls from various PCOS,” said the investigator.some police teams focused on neighbourhoods around the place the telephone booths from where the calls were being made were located. “All this while, Mohsin stayed with the boy’s father and relayed the developments to the kidnappers,” said the DCP.