YouTuber in Fortuner kidnapped from Ghaziabad, rescued by police from Mathura
Police said six suspects arrived in an Ecosport and rammed Singh’s Fortuner as he got out to check the damage, they dragged him into their car and drove away
A YouTuber and resident of Bisrakh in Gautam Budh Nagar was allegedly kidnapped by six men in his Fortuner from outside a petrol pump near Vijay Nagar in Ghaziabad on Thursday morning, senior police officers said, adding that he was rescued hours later by the police from Mathura district.
The police also arrested two suspects in this connection and identified them as Manish Kumar, 36, a resident of Gaur City, Greater Noida, and Surendra Kumar, 32, a resident Farah, Mathura.
Four others --identified as Rahul Gupta, Pushpendra Kumar, Hitesh Chaudhary and Manoj Kumar -- are on the run, police said.
Ghaziabad police said YouTuber Praveen Singh earlier worked with an IT company in Noida and lost his job during the Covid pandemic.
“He later started promoting a gaming app on social media and a number of people invested money in it. Suspects Manish and Gupta lost about ₹1.5 crore after investing in the app and they planned the kidnapping to get back their money. They hired four other suspects from Mathura and made them stay at a hotel in Raj Nagar District Centre in Ghaziabad for the past couple of days. From there, they were tracking Singhs daily movements and got an opportunity for abduction when he stopped at a petrol pump around 11.30am on Thursday,” said Rajesh Kumar, deputy commissioner of police, city.
Police said six suspects arrived in an Ecosport and rammed Singh’s Fortuner. When he got out to check the damage, they dragged him into their car and drove away, while their accomplices followed in the Fortuner.
The officials said Singh’s father got suspicious when he did not show up and he tracked Singh’s location through a GPS-enabled watch that his son was wearing.
“Thereafter, his family told police that the Fortuner car was heading towards Mathura district. The local police there was alerted and barricades were put up. Suspects fled on seeing the police checkpoints near Farah around 3.30pm on Thursday. They left the victim and the car behind. The police in Mathura chased and arrested Surendra while Manish headed back to Ghaziabad from where he was traced and arrested on Friday. En route to Mathura, they beat up the victim and demanded ₹50 lakh,” the DCP said.
Singh said his father was admitted to a hospital in Ghaziabad and he was on his way to get him discharged when the kidnappers nabbed him on Thursday.
“My family tracked me through my GPS-enabled watch and sought police help. My father was getting discharged and he was waiting for me. I left home around 11am on Thursday and when I did not turn up, my father started to trace me,” he said.
Police said a search is on to arrest the remaining suspects.