Delhi police rescues Bulgarian national from abductors

The arrested men are Anoop, 36, who was previously involved in a murder case and his aide Naveen Dagar, 29, both residents of Jharoda Kalan.

Palashev Rodaslav, 28, a computer engineer from Bulgaria, who was in India for the first time as a tourist, was abducted by a gang of alleged criminals when he got down to withdraw some cash at an ATM in Mohan Garden, Dwarka, on Thursday night, while on his way to Gurugram with a friend. A ransom demand of Rs 2 crore was made to his father in Bulgaria. However, before the alleged abductors could get away with their plan, the police managed to rescue Rodaslav, following a brief exchange of fire on Friday evening. Two men were arrested, the police said.

The foreign nationals who were rescued by Delhi Police, in New Delhi. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

The arrested men are Anoop, 36, who was previously involved in a murder case and his aide Naveen Dagar, 29, both residents of Jharoda Kalan. The police said they have recovered two pistols, Rs 1 lakh in cash that they had robbed from the Bulgarian man, and the i20 car in which they had abducted him.

Joint commissioner of police (western range) Shalini Singh said that on Thursday Rodaslav was abducted, when he was with his friend George, also from Bulgaria.

“They were in a car when Rodaslav got down to go to an ATM. However, when he did not return for a while, his friend George went to look for him but couldn’t find him. Early Friday morning, George got a call from Rodaslav’s father who told him that his son had been abducted and that some men from Delhi had demanded ₹2 crore from the family for Rodaslav’s release,” the joint commissioner said.

George then reported the matter to the police on Friday morning. “We scanned footage from CCTV cameras surrounding the ATM. Technical surveillance was also started, and on Friday afternoon we got information that some suspicious men have been spotted with a foreigner in a white i20 car with a Haryana registration number near Jharoda Kalan,” Singh said.

Deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Anto Alphonse said the suspects were regularly switching their phones off, making it difficult for the police teams to locate them. “Meanwhile, Rodaslav’s family told us that they had asked his friend George to come to a spot on Jharoda-Najafgarh Road on Friday evening with the ransom amount. We then sent him with the ransom at the location as our teams fanned out in the area in plainclothes keeping a watch on the suspects,” Alphonse said.

However, after a long wait, when the abductors didn’t arrive, police teams combed the nearby areas and finally located the white i20 car close by.

“But as soon as we intercepted the vehicle, one of the occupants opened fire at us. As they tried to drive away, our men chased them in police vehicles and retaliated. One of the bullets fired by the police deflated the tyre of their car and they were trapped. The Bulgarian national was rescued,” the DCP said.

During the operation, three policemen—Inspector Jagtar, head constable Ashwani and constable Kapil—were injured.