Bareilly pile-up exposes kidnapping of Gurugram man, two children

Two minor siblings survived with fractures after being flung from SUV; cops traced captive father in Faridpur using child’s statement.

A case of abduction of two children and their father from Gurugram was unexpectedly solved when three suspected kidnappers were killed in a car crash in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly on Sunday evening, police said on Monday. The two children, who were also in the car at the time of the crash, survived.

UP police learned of abduction after hospital questioning; father rescued from confinement, driver and kids recovering under watch. (HT)

The matter came to light when Uttar Pradesh police received a report of a pile-up on the Delhi-Lucknow highway near Pardholi in Bareilly, in which three occupants of a Mahindra Bolero died after crashing into a parked tanker. Two motorcycle riders also died after ramming into the Bolero.

Inside the Bolero were the kidnapped children – aged six and three years – along with four accused. While three suspects were killed, the driver survived with injuries along with the two children. Uttar Pradesh police said the children survived as they were thrown out of the vehicle due to the impact. Both suffered fractures but are stated to be stable.

The breakthrough in the case came when the six-year-old child was quizzed by UP police officers on Monday at a private hospital, where he was admitted, and he told the cops about the kidnapping. Acting on this, police traced and rescued the father, who had been kept captive at a house in Faridpur, and alerted Gurugram police.

“The child’s statement was crucial. Based on the details shared by him and the driver, we were able to locate and rescue the father,” said inspector Pradeep Chaturvedi, SHO of CB Ganj police station in Bareilly.

The family had gone missing Saturday night from Gurugram. The father, an autorickshaw driver, had left home in Nathupur, DLF Phase-III, to drop a passenger at a temple around 7.30pm. He took his children along. When they did not return, his wife found the autorickshaw abandoned near the temple and alerted police. A kidnapping case was registered at DLF Phase-I police station on Saturday night. The family was living in Gurugram for the last eight years.

Inspector Manoj, SHO of DLF Phase-I police station, said one of the accused killed in the crash, was a relative of the victims. “He was the one suspected to have abducted the autorickshaw driver and the children with help from his associates,” he said.

A Gurugram police team reached Bareilly late Sunday night, where they met the children at the hospital.

Preliminary findings suggest the accused may have been transporting the victims towards Delhi. “This is based on initial inputs from the injured driver. The exact motive will be clear after statements are recorded,” Chaturvedi said.

UP police officials said that they have arrested a man — the father of one of the men killed in the crash — in Faridpur on Monday for confining the autorickshaw driver. Multiple criminal cases were registered against him in Bareilly. Investigators familiar with the case said that the motive appeared to be that one of the killed men wanted to marry the niece of the autorickshaw driver, but he was against it so they kidnapped the trio.

Further investigation is underway, and statements of the victims and the driver will be recorded once their condition stabilises. He will also be arrested for his involvement in the case after being declared medically fit by doctors, police officials said.