CITY TRADER KIDNAPPED

NEW DELHI: Offered a chance to call his family or friends to arrange a ransom of ~10 lakh, an abducted man called his colleague and spoke to him in the Maithili language to discreetly alert him about his situation. His colleague took the hint and called the police, who rescued the victim on Tuesday.

VICTIM SPOKE TO HIS COLLEAGUE, WHOSE MOTHER TONGUE WAS ALSO MAITHILI, AND PRETENDED TO ASK HIM TO ARRANGE RANSOM

NEW DELHI: Offered a chance to call his family or friends to arrange a ransom of ₹10 lakh, a kidnapped man called his colleague and spoke to him in the Maithili language to discreetly alert him about his situation. His colleague took the hint and called the police, who went on to set a trap and rescue the victim who had been confined in a running car for nearly 11 hours on Tuesday.

By the end of the drama, the police said they caught one of the four kidnappers and rescued the kidnapped man without any ransom being paid. The three absconding suspects have been identified and efforts are on to nab them, said Deepak Purohit, deputy commissioner of police (west district).

The 26-year-old victim, Aman Kumar, is a native of Bihar, lives in west Delhi’s Rajouri Garden and runs a firm that provides business solutions. The police said the kidnappers targeted him as they believed him to be raking in huge profits.

“Kumar was near Tilak Nagar metro station around 11.30 am on Tuesday when four men posing as crime branch officers forced him to enter their Swift Dzire car,” said the DCP.

Thereafter, the four men took Kumar on a ride on the west Delhi roads and the Ring Road while demanding a ransom of Rs 25 lakh from him. Kumar negotiated with his kidnappers to lower the ransom amount to Rs10 lakh, said the DCP.

“When they asked him to arrange the ransom money, Kumar asked them to give him his phone for making a call,” said another investigator.

The kidnappers were hesitant for long, and instead kept urging him to arrange the money without giving him his phone, but they finally gave in to his demand around 8 pm, said the officer.

“Once Kumar had his phone, he called one of his employees who too belongs to Bihar and speaks the Maithili language. While asking his colleague to arrange the cash, Kumar slipped in a sentence in Maithili to inform him that he has been kidnapped. The kidnappers did not know the Maithili language and didn’t realise they had been tricked,” said DCP Purohit.

Kumar’s colleague went on to dial the police who immediately constituted a team to rescue him.

“As per plan, Kumar’s colleague was to bring the cash to Dhaula Kuan in an auto-rickshaw. We sent a policeman in plainclothes with him in the auto while others trailed in a car,” said the DCP.

But as they were about to reach Dhaula Kuan, the police decided to call off their colleague as it would arouse the suspicion of the kidnappers. Instead, all the policemen followed the auto in their car. “When the autorickshaw reached Dhaula Kuan, the kidnappers asked the money to be brought near Delhi Cantonment metro station,” said the officer.

At the designated spot near the metro station, where the money was to change hands, the colleague demanded that first Kumar be brought out of the car to prove that he was alive and would be released. “Around 10.30pm, one kidnapper, Haripal, brought Kumar out of the car while others remained inside,” said the DCP.

But when Kumar brought out the cash-laden bag, Haripal allegedly began dragging him towards the car. The police team decided it was time for them to jump into the scene. “We caught Haripal and rescued Kumar. The other kidnappers managed to speed away by ramming our car,” said the DCP.

Haripal, a 26-year-old resident of Najafgarh, worked for a multinational company in Gurgaon for a monthly salary of Rs65,000. “He told the police that he needed the money to invest in his business,” said the DCP.

The alleged mastermind of the crime is another Najafgarh resident who was previously involved in four criminal cases, including the kidnap of a fiveyear-old boy for ransom, said the DCP. A hunt is on for him and two other suspects.