Gang had planned 10 abductions to make a quick buck, says police

Fifteen days after an eight-year-old boy was rescued from kidnappers’ clutches in Palwal and two persons were arrested, the police revealed that the gang had pinpointed

Fifteen days after an eight-year-old boy was rescued from kidnappers’ clutches in Palwal and two persons were arrested, the police revealed that the gang had pinpointed 10 boys to kidnap to pay off their debts.

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The eight-year-old was kidnapped from Ullawas in Sector 65 and a ransom of Rs 50 lakh sought. The police said the suspects had planned to target other children from the area, one by one.

According to the police, the four suspects, of Palwal and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, had allegedly agreed to the abductions as the mastermind was under a debt of Rs 5 lakh, said police.

Preet Pal Sangwan, the assistant commissioner of police (Gurugram), identified the kingpin as Jagdish Kumar (38), of Mirpur Korali, and his nephew, Mohit alias Bholu (22), of Rasulpur in Palwal.

Kumar used to drive an auto-rickshaw to make a living and was finding it difficult to make ends meet due to decreased demand during the lull caused by the pandemic. “He approached Mohit, who used to work at a private clinic near his village, and discussed plans to earn money. After several rounds of discussion, they finally planned to kidnap a minor for ransom,” said Sangwan.

The police said that they involved two more relatives and conducted reconnaissance of areas in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram. The gang finally planned to take up a room on rent in Gurugram and zeroed in on Ullawas village, as the rent was low, said police.

Sangwan said the suspects started doing rounds of the village and targeted 10 minor boys and started checking the routines of their family members, playtime, number of family members and their financial condition. “They thought of targeting one after another. For luring their target, they roped in a juvenile who was around the same age as their target to play with him and to lure him,” he said.

Kumar used to ferry the victim’s mother in his auto-rickshaw regularly to get fresh vegetables from the field and tried to paint a good picture in front of them to gain trust and entry into their home, the police said. This was the only house where there was no CCTV camera installed and they had the money to pay the ransom, the police said.

On December 17, the boy was playing outside his house, when he was lured for a ride in the auto-rickshaw. The auto was covered with side curtains and two more suspects boarded the auto while they were moving out of the village.

Sangwan said they drove towards village Rasulpur in Palwal, nearly 93 kilometres from the city, in the auto. “As the victim tried to raise the alarm, Mohit injected a drug that rendered him unconsciousness. It took almost two hours to reach the village where they kept the victim inside a private clinic where Mohit used to work,” he said.

The suspects were yet to ask for ransom and were planning to visit a local telephone booth, but were traced by the police. Two of them were arrested from the clinic and the boy was recovered.

During questioning, the suspects revealed that they targeted the boy as his father drove an SUV and seemed to have a good business. They had also learned that he had recently received a big payment and it was kept at home, the police said.

The police have urged residents to stay alert and not to allow their children to step out without informing them.