Three held for abducting 17-year-old for ₹1 cr ransom

Greater Noida Police on Wednesday said they had rescued a 17-year-old boy and arrested three men for kidnapping him from Jewar eyeing a ₹1 crore ransom.

Greater Noida Police on Wednesday said they had rescued a 17-year-old boy and arrested three men for kidnapping him from Jewar eyeing a ₹1 crore ransom.

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The boy’s family based in Jewar had recently received ₹10 crore for their land that the Uttar Pradesh government had acquired for a project in connection with the upcoming Noida international airport. Police said the suspects decided to kidnap the boy when they came to know about this.

The boy was reported missing to the police on December 6. His father complained that his son had gone to their farm the previous day but did not return.

“We launched a search when he did not return home at night. Next day, we filed a missing person complaint at the Jewar police station,” said the father.

On December 7, Giridhar, a person who worked on the family’s farm, received the ransom call. The caller was using the victim’s phone.

“Giridhar told us about the call and we immediately informed police,” said the father.

Vishal Pandey, Greater Noida additional DCP, said they put the victim’s number on surveillance. “While tracking the mobile phone number, we realised that the kidnappers were moving a lot, even going as far as Faridabad in Haryana,” he said.

But on Wednesday morning, they detected that the phone was in Greater Noida.

“We put up barricades at strategic locations and checked vehicles. At Jhuppa Banda cut police checked a Wagon-R car and found the three suspects and the victim with his hands and legs tied in the back seat,” he said, adding that the suspects were arrested with little resistance.

Police seized the vehicle, a countrymade gun, two live cartridges, two knives and victim’s mobile phone from their possession.

The mastermind of the crime was allegedly 38-year-old Joginder Singh, Giridhar’s cousin and a resident of Jewar. His accomplices were identified by police as 32-year-old Balbeer Singh, a resident of Sohna in Haryana, and 28-year-old Sudhir Jaat, a resident of Faridabad.

“Joginder got to know that the boy’s family had received huge compensation recently in lieu of their land,” said Pandey.

Narrating his ordeal, the boy said he had come home in March after the Covid-19 induced lockdown was imposed. He was a student at a private boarding school in Kosi Kalan in Mathura.

”Joginder and I knew each other and I suspect he knew about the ₹10 crore compensation too,” he said. “I was at my family’s farm on December 5 around 5pm when a Wagon-R arrived and blocked the exit from the farm. I went up to them when suddenly the three overpowered me and pushed me inside the car, held a knife to me and drove away.”

The family said they found his motorcycle at the farm when they searched for him.

The victim said the men blindfolded him, tied his limbs and drove into a forested area that people didn’t frequent.

“They kept me there the whole night, snatched my phone and threatened to kill me if I didn’t co-operate. Next day, they took me to Faridabad and locked me in a small room,” the boy said. Police said they suspects may have believed that the best way to keep police off their trail would be to keep moving and on Wednesday morning, they came to Greater Noida. At around 1am, they were caught.

Addl DCP Pandey said that the suspects had planned to kill the victim and dump the body in the Yamuna after they got the ransom. A case under Section 364-A (kidnapping for ransom) of IPC was registered against the suspects and a court and sent them to jail.