A property dealer was arrested on Sunday by the police for allegedly kidnapping an 11-year-old boy from Rajinder Nagar in Central Delhi and demanding a ransom of `1.5 crore for his safe release.
According to the police, 42-year-old Harpal Singh Sodhi was arrested from Rajasthan after which the child was rescued from the Rewari Railway Station. Sodhi’s accomplice Harpreet, who is the father of a classmate of the rescued boy, is absconding and efforts are being made to nab him, the police said.
Harpreet was allegedly the mastermind behind the kidnapping.
The boy, a resident of Rajinder Nagar, had gone to a nearby market on Saturday evening to get his father’s mobile phone recharged but did not return home.
The victim’s parents informed the police about the kidnapping after they received a ransom call from the accused demanding `1.5 crore for their son’s release.
A case of kidnapping for ransom was lodged at the Rajinder Nagar police station.
Deputy commissioner of police (central) Alok Kumar said, “During the course of investigation, it was learnt that Harpreet had contacted the victim’s parents last week for the purpose of purchasing a shop,”
When Harpreet’s family members were questioned, they told the police that he had gone out of Delhi for arranging money to buy the shop, he said.
The police said Harpreet is also a property dealer and he used to work with his friend Sodhi. He, however, managed to escape from the railway station during the rescue operation.
The child’s family had received two ransom calls and the kidnappers had given a deadline of Sunday morning for arranging the money, the police added.
Several police teams were dispatched to trace the accused and recover the abducted boy.
The location of the person who made the ransom calls was established near Bhiwadi in Rajasthan through technical surveillance, the police official said, adding that a car, which was used in the crime, has also been recovered.