Police claims no ransom paid in Patiala kidnapping

Police claim to have gathered vital leads in the seven-year-old Shanvi Gupta kidnapping case, while sources say they have even rounded up some criminals for questioning and caught one of the four accused.

Police claim to have gathered vital leads in the seven-year-old Shanvi Gupta kidnapping case, while sources say they have even rounded up some criminals for questioning and caught one of the four accused.

Police claimed that the kidnappers had failed to collect the money because of the pressure that cops had mounted on them by sealing all exit points. (HT File Photo)

Denying that the parents of the Class-2 girl had paid Rs 50-lakh ransom on Wednesday to secure her release, police claimed that the kidnappers had failed to collect the money because of the pressure that cops had mounted on them by sealing all exit points. During a press conference related to a separate incident of robbery, senior superintendent of police Gurmeet Singh Chauhan said here on Thursday that cops were close to catching all the kidnappers. “I can’t share the leads with you now,” he added.

Read: Father paid ‘Rs 50 lakh to free girl, police just watched’

Sources said police had started scanning a huge volume of call data for mobile phones that were active between Mishri Bazar and Bahera Road during the crime. The kidnappers had split into two parties, and as police went after the ransom callers, the kidnapping group got away.

Read: Kidnapping has Patiala shocked, business community terrified

A former employee of the girl’s father could be involved. Shanvi was kidnapped on Wednesday on her way to school and left outside Patiala five hours later.