Eleven-year-old boy kidnapped by classmate's father, rescued

An 11-year-old son of a businessman kidnapped by two property dealers was rescued within 12 hours on Sunday morning from Haryana’s Rewari district, said police. One of the accused was arrested from his office in Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar, the boy was kidnapped on Saturday evening when he went out from his house at Rajender Nagar in central Delhi to buy a mobile recharge coupon.

At 6:41 pm, his mother got a call from one of the accused, who told her that her son was with them and demanded Rs 1.5 crore for his release. “The parents immediately informed us, and 10 teams were formed to trace the kidnappers,” said Kumar. The boy’s family members were questioned and relevant details were obtained by police.

Later, they discovered that a man named Harpreet, the father of the kidnapped boy’s classmate, had contacted the boy’s parents for buying a shop. This was a week before the kidnapping incident.

Police then questioned Harpreet’s family members, and found that Harpreet had gone out of the city for arranging money to buy the shop.

While police were probing the case, two more ransom calls were received by the victim’s family members, giving them the deadline for 11 am on Sunday. Finally, on the basis of technical surveillance, the location of the person who made the calls was pinpointed near Bhiwadi in Rajasthan.

Police said Harpreet was a small-time property dealer who used to go to his friend Harpal Singh Sodhi’s office — P and S Associates Business Centre — at Rajkot in Bhiwadi. The team traced the office and apprehended Harpal Singh Sodhi, who admitted to have made the ransom calls.

After interrogation of Sodhi, the child was recovered from Haryana’s Rewari railway station, where Harpeet had dumped the car with the kidnapped boy inside. “Harpreet managed to escape  before police reached the spot,” officer said.