Delhi Police rescued a 13-year-old boy and arrested a 22-year-old man in an alleged kidnapping-for-ransom case within about three hours of receiving information about the incident, officials said on Sunday. Police also recovered Rs 5,000 in cash, a mobile phone allegedly used to make the ransom call, and the scooty allegedly used in the crime.
Source: IANS via The Freedom Press
According to police, the incident was reported at Jyoti Nagar police station on October 30 at around 7.15 pm. The complainant told police that her son had gone out to purchase some items but had not returned home, and that she had then received a call from an unidentified person demanding Rs 40,000 for the boy's safe release. A case was registered under Section 140(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and a team led by Inspector Parvesh Kasana, Station House Officer of Jyoti Nagar police station, was formed under the supervision of ACP Gokalpuri Tanvir Ashraf.
Police said the accused insisted on receiving the money through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and shared a barcode for the transaction. To trace him, police transferred Rs 5,000 through that UPI barcode using an account belonging to a police official. The team also collected technical evidence and analysed CCTV footage from the surrounding areas.
The transaction led investigators to a cybercafe in the jurisdiction of Karawal Nagar police station, operated by Sunil Saini. During questioning, the cafe owner told police that a youth aged around 21-22 years had visited the establishment with a minor boy and used his UPI barcode to receive Rs 5,000 in exchange for a commission of Rs 50. Police examined the cafe's CCTV footage, in which the complainant identified her child, officials said.
The accused allegedly returned to the cybercafe with the boy to collect the money in cash, and was apprehended there with the help of the cafe owner, police said. The boy was rescued safely. The accused was identified as Akash, 22, a resident of Loni in Uttar Pradesh, and police said he had no previous criminal involvement on record. According to police, he worked as a delivery helper in the Sadar Bazar area, knew the boy through his cousin, and allegedly lured the boy onto his scooty before making the ransom call to the child's mother. The allegations are yet to be tested in court.
Police recovered Rs 5,000 in cash, including the Rs 50 commission amount, along with the accused's mobile phone and the scooty allegedly used in the kidnapping. Officials said the prompt response, technical surveillance and CCTV analysis helped secure the boy's safe recovery and the arrest within approximately three hours of the initial information.