HCL techie rescued from kidnappers says boarding a private car was the biggest mistake

HCl engineer Rajiv was kidnapped from Raj Nagar Extension on the night of May 23, a day before his birthday. He was rescued by the police early Friday.

“Papa, your son is still alive and if you want to see me that way, listen to what they say. Please don’t heed the police, otherwise my life will be in danger,” HCL engineer Rajiv Kumar Singh can be heard saying in one of the videos sent to his family by his abductors.

HCL engineer Kumar Singh after being rescued from kidnappers in Ghaziabad on Friday. (Sakib ALi/HT photro)

Rajiv,35, a software professional with HCL Noida, was kidnapped by three men in a Wagon-R from Raj Nagar Extension on the night of May 23, a day before his birthday. He was rescued by the police early Friday.

For the last eight days, he was kept confined in a room in Vasundhara’s Prahlad Garhi.

“I am still shivering from the ordeal. I was gagged and tied up for eight days. They beat me up severely. They showed me weapons and knives and threatened to kill me if I resisted. They untied my hands only to let me eat. They repeatedly asked me for the contact numbers of my family members and relatives. I wanted to speak to my loved ones but they did not let me. Instead, they sent messages from my phone, demanding a ransom,” Rajiv said.

Rajiv said the three abductors kept him on sedatives throughout and he was mostly unconscious. The marks left behind by ropes used to bind him are still visible on his wrists and arms.

“They pricked me on my back with pins laced with some substance. They would then make me sit in front of an air cooler and my whole body went senseless. I think they administered me some sedative. They did this every day and my body used to become stiff. After they abducted me, they covered my face and drove me around for two or three hours,” he said.

Rajiv said he was standing at the Raj Nagar Extension crossing on Delhi-Meerut Road for a bus when he was abducted. He said a man approached him and agreed to drop him to Haridwar in his cab for ₹250.

“My biggest fault was that I trusted him and the two passengers in the car. During the eight days, I mustered the courage to escape once, but I gave up the idea. They never left me alone for a minute,” he said.

“By the eighth day, I was losing hope and my only thought was to get back to my family. I lost track of time. Early morning today, someone arrived and took me in a car. I thought the kidnappers were shifting me elsewhere. For several hours, I was unconscious even after being rescued by the police. Then, to my utter joy, I saw my family and police officers. With that, a got a second lease of life,” he said.