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Ludhiana toddler’s kidnapping: Woman among two more accused held in Moga
Accused planned to invest ₹4 crore ransom in drug trade
Two more people, including a woman, who had been involved in the abduction of the two-year old son of a prominent Ludhiana hotelier were arrested on Sunday.
Those arrested are Lal Singh of Kot Isse Khan of Moga and his wife Mandeep Kaur. While Lal was one of the five main executors of the crime, his wife Mandeep, had helped hide the child in her house for four hours, police said. A namesake, Lal Singh, the sarpanch of village Maluwal of Moga, has also been booked for helping the accused.
The police have already arrested former Sarpanch Rachpal Singh of Zira, the main accused Harjinderpal Kumar of Ludhiana who was the victim’s driver and Sukhdev Singh Sukha of Kheowali of Fazilka. Sukhdev Singh of Arniwal, Fazilka, is still absconding.
The accused admitted that they had planned to invest the ₹4 crore ransom money in the drug trade.
Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP city 2) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja said Lal had made the ransom call to the victim’s mother demanding ₹4 crore for the release of the boy and the driver. Rachapal and sarpanch Lal Singh had exchanged cars with Harjinderpal, Sukhdev Singh Sukha and Lal to throw off the police from their trail in Moga. Lal had handed over the child to Rachapal Singh. Sarpanch Lal Singh and Rachpal had handed the toddler over to Mandeep, who was aware that the boy had been abducted.
“At midnight on December 1, the accused had taken the boy to Lal’s cousin Manjit Kaur’s house for a while. It is not certain whether Manjit knew the child had been kidnapped. After the accused realised that they could not hide any longer as the police were carrying out an intensive search, they abandoned the child near Dugru railway crossing in Moga in a Volkswagen Polo car and escaped to Ferozepur on December 3,”said the ADCP.
Drugs seized from main accused’s house
The police recovered 290g of narcotics from Harjinderpal’s house on Sunday. The accused admitted that he and Harjinderpal had been smuggling drugs for a long time. A case under sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been lodged against the accused in Dugri.