Four arrested for abducting two-and-half-year old boy; accused includes close relative of victim
Four arrested for abducting two-and-half-year old boy; accused includes close relative of victim For about three months the parents of two-and-half-year old Pranjal had been eagerly waiting for the return of their son. The child, who has been missing since September last year, was finally rescued from his kidnappers on Tuesday. Cops said the kidnappers, including a close relative of the boy, have been arrested.
In the net: Special Cell officials parading the kidnappers before the
media. The gang used to tell the victim's family that they belong to a
gang from western Uttar Pradeshu00a0u00a0PIC/MID DAYThe gang Four persons, including a woman, have been arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi police for kidnapping Pranjal. The arrested have been identified as Narender Kumar Dabas, 34, his wife Santosh, Gaurav Kumar Khatri, 27, and 21-year-old Amit Kumar.
The police said initially, the kidnappers had made ransom calls from different areas in Ghaziabad to mislead investigators that criminals from western Uttar Pradesh were involved in the crime.
The crimePranjal had been kidnapped on the intervening night of September 30 and October 1 when he was sleeping with his parents on the first floor of their Uttam Nagar residence. According to the police, the family received a series of ransom calls from the kidnappers who demanded Rs 40 lakh. The calls were made from Bhopura and Karera in Ghaziabad and Adarsh Nagar, Azadpur Mandi, Pitampura, Janakpuri and Tilak Nagar in Delhi.
Cops said on October 13 Surender Singh Solanki, the boy's father, who is a businessman from the travel industry, went to meet the kidnappers with Rs 4 lakh, the first installment of the ransom amount. But the kidnappers allegedly became suspicious and did not accept the money. "They asked him to go back and threatened to kill the child. The kidnappers called the family the next day and took the delivery of Rs 4 lakh. However, despite receiving the ransom money, they did not release Pranjal," said Deputy Commissioner
of Police (Special Cell) Alok Kumar.
The arrests
Police said when the third ransom call was being made from the fruit mandi at Azadpur by a woman, the police managed to reach the spot and arrest her along with an accomplice, Amit. The child was recovered from the house of one of the accused identified as Narender Kumar Dabbas at Jehangirpuri. Another co-accused, Gaurav, was later arrested from Jain Colony, Prahaladpur, Delhi.u00a0
