Presence of mind saved 12-year-old

The presence of mind of a 12-year-old boy helped him come out alive from a 40-foot well, even though his kidnappers had left him for dead there.

The presence of mind of a 12-year-old boy helped him come out alive from a 40-foot well, even though his kidnappers had left him for dead there.

HT Image

Aashish was kidnapped from Chirag Dilli and taken to Jhajjar in Haryana by two men, one of whom - Sachin Kumar - was his neighbour, who planned the crime to tide over debt.

After the kidnappers threw him into the well, Aashish waited for 30minutes before raising an alarm.

"A passerby, who heard noise coming from the well, informed villagers and rescued him," said a senior police officer requesting anonymity.

"They first took me to an isolated place in a bus. Then they kept telling me they would take me to my father. On Wednesday evening, they threw me into the well," said Aashish.

Police have arrested Sachin Kumar and Mohit for kidnapping the boy and demanding a ransom of Rs20 lakh.

During investigation, police found that the ransom call was made from a local PCO in south Delhi. "With the help of locals, a sketch of the caller was prepared and distributed in the area," said Chhaya Sharma, DCP (south).