Juvenile kidnaps 12-yr-old for ransom, held

A juvenile has been apprehended for kidnapping a 12-year-old boy from east Delhi’s Mandawali and demanding Rs 50,000 ransom from his family. The victim was safely rescued, police said on Thursday.

The accused has criminal history, including a case of motorcycle theft. According to police, he wanted to earn quick and easy money for leading a lavish lifestyle. “The accused knew the boy for past some months as he lived in his neighbourhood,” said Ajay Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East).

The juvenile had smartly planned the kidnapping and took precautions to mislead police and evade his apprehension. “He made the first ransom call to the boy’s family from a telephone booth, but did not give them the address where he wanted them to deliver the ransom money,” Kumar added.

ering the money in the second phone call, the juvenile continued changing the locations as many as four times. “However, our teams acted meticulously and eventually rescued the boy from his custody,” Kumar added.

The boy’s elder brother had approached police after he went missing after leaving home to play at Ambedkar Park in West Vinod Nagar on Sunday. The boy left home at around 1.30 pm, but did not return till late night. A case of kidnapping was registered with Mandawali police station.

During the course of investigation, a ransom call for Rs 50,000 was received by the boy’s family on Tuesday. The caller did not disclose the place of delivery of ransom by saying that he would disclose it later on. A police team rushed to the location of the caller – Gandhi Nagar, but found that the call was made from a STD booth.

On Wednesday, a second ransom call of Rs 50,000 was received and the place of delivery of ransom was fixed behind a bus stand at south east Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan. Accordingly, the police team rushed to the bus stand along with the boy’s elder brother and dummy cash.

Suddenly, another call with the same amount was received and this time the place was fixed at Anand Vihar ISBT in north east Delhi. The bus terminal was cordoned off by police. However, after 20-25 minutes, the location was again changed and fixed near Dabur Chowk in Kaushambi.

“The accused along with the kidnapped boy came there and within no time the kidnapper was apprehended,” Kumar said.