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2012 NRI kidnapping case: Six held guilty; sentence on Sep 16
A local court on Wednesday convicted six accused in the case involving kidnapping of a Canada-based NRI in April 2012.
A local court on Wednesday convicted six accused in the case involving kidnapping of a Canada-based NRI in April 2012.
The court of additional district and sessions judge RK Jain held Pradeep Malik, Sanjeev Kumar alias Soni, Anil Kumar, Ajit Singh, Nitin and Sukhdev guilty in the case. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on Friday.
The NRI, Navneet Singh Chatha, was kidnapped on April 10, 2012, for Rs 1 crore ransom. A UT crime branch team rescued him after an extensive operation in a Kurukshetra village within a few hours.
The NRI’s brother, who is also a Canadian resident, had received the ransom call. The police laid a trap and arrested the accused.
The UT police had arrested the six on charges of kidnapping, robbery and wrongful confinement.
Soni owned the farmhouse where the victim was kept. A trap was laid at the farmhouse and after an exchange of gunshots between the police and the kidnappers, the accused were nabbed.
The Kurukshetra police had registered a separate case of attempt to murder against the six accused.
The UT police had recovered Rs12.5 lakh, 300 Canadian dollars, victim’s Honda Accord car besides a Maruti Swift Dzire car robbed from a person in Panchkula and two mobile phones.
The NRI was allegedly robbed of his purse and belongings at gunpoint.
Victim’s brother got clue in ransom call
Recounting the sequence of events, Chatha appearing before the court through video conferencing last year said, “I usually refer to my brother as Ginnu or Garry in our conversations, but that day I called him by his complete name — Gurneet Singh Chatha — to drop a hint that something is wrong.”
“I could not have told him that I was kidnapped as the kidnappers had forced me to call him at gunpoint and demanded Rs 1 crore.
I told my brother that the money was for a land deal and it made him suspicious. He immediately called for help,” said Chatha.
“The accused had fired at the police team and when I tried to escape, they tried to shoot me but their pistol got jammed and I was rescued,” he had said.
Recording his statement though video conferencing, the NRI identified Pradeep, Sanjeev, Anil and Ajit Singh by the colour of their shirts.
Navneet Chatha, however, failed to identify Nitin and Sukhdev.
Navneet had expressed his inability to travel to India due to alleged threat to his life.
The case
1) Canada-based NRI Navneet Singh Chatha was kidnapped on April 10, 2012, for Rs 1 crore ransom. A UT police team rescued him after an operation from a Kurukshetra village within hours of kidnapping.
2) The NRI’s brother, who is also a Canadian resident, had received the ransom call
3) The victim was kept in a farmhouse owned by one of the accused
4) A trap was laid at the farmhouse and after an exchange of gunshots between the police and the kidnappers, the accused were nabbed
