5 arrested for girl’s abduction

Police on Monday rescued a 14-year-old girl kidnapped from west Delhi and arrested five people, including two girls, for allegedly holding her for two days, reports Ravi Bajpai.

Police on Monday rescued a 14-year-old girl kidnapped from west Delhi and arrested five people, including two girls, for allegedly holding her for two days.

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The kidnapping plot appears straight out of a Bollywood film. The five people allegedly kidnapped 14-year-old Kritika, a student of Happy Model School in Janakpuri, on Saturday. She was called out of her home in Virendra Nagar on the pretext of sharing class notes with another girl. One of the arrested girls is a minor. “Kritika knew the youngsters and she got in their car on being asked. She was then drugged and kept in a flat in Hari Nagar for almost two days,” said a senior police officer.

The accused — Vipin Verma (23), Jatin Sharma (22), Shilpi Rathore (19), Suraj Bhatia (20) and Mira (name changed) — are good friends, police said. Vipin is under debt. “They hatched the kidnapping plot to earn some money. They demanded Rs 50 lakh as ransom,” said HGS Dhaliwal, additional deputy commissioner of police (west).

The kidnappers targeted Kritika since the girl’s family had recently sold off one of their houses in Hari Nagar. “They thought the family would have ready cash,” said an officer.

Shilpi Rathore, one of the accused, phoned Kritika’s grandfather Om Prakash saying she needed Kritika’s class notes. “Shilpi said her younger sister studies with Kritika. Kritika got inside their car, where she was drugged,” said a police officer.

The kidnappers had two cars. The cars belong to the parents of Vipin and the minor girl, said an officer. They gave Kritika mild sedatives and kept her in a flat,” said an officer

Police said the SIM card used to make the ransom call was also procured with the help of fake identity proofs. The kidnappers were traced after two days of chase. They were eventually arrested from southwest Delhi’s Mahipalpur early on Monday, police said. “We spotted their car and chased it down. Vipin and Shilpi came out of the car and fled. They were arrested later,” said a police officer.
Suraj took advantage of the chase and tried to drive away in the Lancer. “Two policemen clung onto the moving car and stopped it.”

The families of those arrested could not be reached for their views despite repeated attempts.