Doctor’s kidnapping by ‘Ola driver’: Kingpin held from Meerut
The kidnappers had demanded a ransom of Rs 4 crore from Ola and threatened to kill the doctor if they informed police or failed to pay the money.
Two men, who had planned the kidnapping of a Delhi doctor last month, were arrested by a joint team of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh police on Friday.
The men, both siblings, were arrested after a brief shoot-out in the wee hours of Friday at a village in Meerut. Police said one of the men Sushil, the alleged main conspirator who had taken the job of a driver with Ola, had kidnapped the doctor. Four other men involved in the kidnapping were earlier arrested by the police. Their interrogation led police to Sushil.
The two were part of the gang that kidnapped the Metro hospital doctor, A Srikanth Goud, by posing as an Ola cab driver and keeping him in captivity for at least 14 days until his rescue by the joint police team last month. The kidnappers had demanded a ransom of Rs 4 crore from Ola and threatened to kill the doctor if they informed police or failed to pay the money.
The arrested duo confessed that they were confident of receiving the ransom and believed that Ola would ensure their company’s image is not tarnished. Sushil had also used forged license, bank paper and other identity cars to get a job in Ola.
On July 6, the doctor was kidnapped while returning to his East Delhi home in a cab. Sushil and Anuj are both residents of Daurala in Meerut.
DCP (east) Omvir Singh said that after Goud’s rescue on July 19, police were tracing the whereabouts of all the men who were involved in the kidnapping.
“On Thursday, a tip-off was received about the main accused persons near Meerut, Roorkee and Muzaffarnagar. At around 5.30-5:45am, a police team spotted the two accused near Nangli Gate. Sensing police presence, both the accused opened fire at the cops from country made pistols of .315 bore,” said DCP Singh.
DCP Singh said that the police team ducked and managed to evade being shot fortunately. The two were later overpowered by the police team, while they were trying to load a their pistols.
The police team, which rescued Goud, had posed as representatives of Ola and negotiated with the kidnappers. Until his rescue on July 19, Goud was held captive in places such as Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Baghpat, Hapur, Meerut, Bijnor, Muzzafarnagar and Haridwar.
Sushil and his gang members also took photographs and videos of the doctor begging for water and sent them to his family to scare them into paying up quickly.
While in hiding, the gang had posed as kanwariyas, so ensure that nobody suspected them.