One killed, two hurt in gunfight as cops crack kidnapping case in G Noida

According to police, Harsh, son of Megh Singh, a businessman and a resident of Luksar village in Greater Noida was allegedly kidnapped on Saturday

Noida: The Gautam Budh Nagar police killed a suspected kidnapper and injured two of his accomplices in two separate gunfights in Greater Noida on Monday. The three suspects, along with a fourth accomplice, had kidnapped an 11-year-old boy from Luksar village and demanded a ransom of ₹30 lakh from his family members.

One of the injured suspects. (HT Photo)

A sub-inspector received bullet injuries on his leg while another inspector had a close shave as a bullet hit his bulletproof vest.

According to police, Harsh, son of Megh Singh, a businessman and a resident of Luksar village in Greater Noida was allegedly kidnapped on Saturday.

“The boy’s family claimed that their son was missing since 11.30am on Saturday and gave a written complaint at 3.30pm at the Ecotech 1 police station. They also said they received a ransom call in which the alleged kidnappers demanded a sum of ₹30 lakh from the family in order to release the boy,” said Abhishek Verma, deputy commissioner of police, Greater Noida.

An FIR was registered at the police station based on the complaint and police personnel from other police stations as well as Central Noida zone were roped in to investigate the case and nab the culprits, said police.

Anil Kumar, station house officer (SHO), Beta 2 police station, who was in the police team that carried out the operation, informed that around 6am on Monday, the ransom money was handed over to the miscreants by the boy’s family.

“The kidnappers asked the father to leave the ransom money at a specific location in the village. They promised that once they receive the ransom, the kidnapped boy will be handed over to the family at another location. At 6am sharp, the family dropped the money at the location given by the kidnappers and proceeded to the other location where the boy was expected to be found. Police teams were constantly tracking the family,” said SHO Kumar.

At around 7.30am, as soon as the four kidnappers handed over the boy to the family, police personnel encircled them. “However, the suspects fired at the police party after which we retaliated and two suspects were injured in their legs, while the other two managed to escape. The two injured suspects were sent to a hospital for treatment and will be taken into custody,” SHO Kumar added.

The injured suspects were identified as Vishal Maurya and Rishabh — both natives of Badaun. Police recovered two country-made pistols along with live cartridges from their possession.

Later in the day around 3.30pm, police personnel carried out a combing operation in the area to nab the suspects who were on the run. “Police teams directed two bike-borne men to stop near the Chuhadpur underpass, but they fled the spot. When we chased them, they opened fire on the police party. Sub-inspector Varun Pawar received bullet injuries while Anil Kumar got hit on his bullet-proof vest,” said DCP Verma.

In the cross firing, the third suspect, identified as Shivam, was killed while the fourth suspect, identified as Vishal Pal, managed to escape.

“Shivam was rushed to a hospital in Greater Noida where he was declared dead. The police recovered ₹29 lakh ransom amount from the possession of the suspects,” said a police officer, adding that the family had given ₹29 lakh cash to the kidnappers.

The kidnapped boy was reunited with his family. A reward of ₹1 lakh has been declared by UP director general of police DS Chauhan for the team that cracked the case.