College student kidnaps boy to pay debt, held

A 21-year-old B.Com student who wanted to get out of a debt of R80,000 that he incurred in share trading, drove to kidnap a 12-year-old boy with his friend to repay it, police said on Tuesday. HT reports.

A 21-year-old B.Com student who wanted to get out of a debt of R80,000 that he incurred in share trading, drove to kidnap a 12-year-old boy with his friend to repay it, police said on Tuesday.

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“But the accused, who has been identified as Shabbir, landed in our custody within six hours of the act along with his friend Abid Khan (22) in Bhajanpura on Monday while the victim, Babar Ali, was rescued from a house in the same colony where he was residing,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (northwest) Sanjay Kumar Jain.

Police said Shabbir’s initial plan was to kidnap his own two-year-old niece but it changed after her parents took the girl to her grandparents’ home.

“Shabbir had taken a loan of R50,000 on a very high interest rate and had invested it in the share market to earn quick money. However, he suffered losses and was under tremendous pressure to return the debt which had risen to R80,000,” Jain said.

Police said they were able to nab the two accused within hours thanks to a neighbour of the victim who told police that he had seen Abid calling the victim away.