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Delhi contractor abducted for R4 lakh ransom by employee and four others over payment dispute, three held
New Delhi
New Delhi
The Delhi Police on Friday said they have rescued a south Delhi-based 38-year-old floor polishing contractor from a forested area in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district, where he had been kept in confinement after being abducted from Lakhimpur Kheri by a group of four men on October 24.
The alleged abductors and the mastermind of the crime, who worked for the contractor and had a dispute over pending wages, had been demanding R4 lakh from the family for his safe release, the police said.
Three men, including the main conspirator, Irfan,26, have been arrested for the crime. The other two were identified as Aziz Ali,35, and Bablu,24. Irfan’s brother Vakeel,31, and their associate Samim,30, are still absconding.
Irfan was only part of the planning. He was not involved in its execution because the contractor, Ramesh Chandra from Panchsheel Park in Malviya Nagar, would have identified him, police said.
“Irfan said he used to do polishing of marble and stone flooring under Chandra in Delhi for the past 18 months. He alleged Chandra had not been paying his wages of R15,000. Chandra, however, have denied the allegations,” said deputy commissioner of police (south) Atul Kumar Thakur.
DCP Thakur said that Irfan planned Chandra’s abduction to teach him a lesson. He conspired with his brother and four associates to execute the plan. Irfan took Chandra to Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh on the pretext of getting a big contract of floor polishing, he said.
On October 23, Chandra left his home, boarded a bus and the next morning reached the Lakhimpur Kheri bus stand, where four men, including Irfan’s brother Vakeel, met him. The four men asked Chandra to sit in their Bolero car so that they could reach the construction site. However, they took him to a forested area, tied his legs and confined him in an abandoned hut at an isolated place, said the police.
“The abductors made Chandra speak to his wife. The suspect later made her a couple of calls from different mobile numbers and demanded R4 lakh for her husband’s safe release,” said DCP Thakur.
Chandra’s wife filed a police complaint. A case was registered and through technical investigation, the investigating team tracked the last location of Chandra’s cellphone to the forested area in Sitapur. Further probe pointed the needle of suspicion at Irfan. Accordingly, a team went to the forested area on October 28.
“On seeing the police party, the abductors abandoned Chandra and fled. They were chased and three of them were caught. Chandra was safely rescued from the hut. All of them have been brought back to Delhi. Efforts are on to nab the absconding duo,” added Thakur.
