The Jaipur Police on Tuesday cracked a kidnapping case of a youth from Nahargarh Fort and tracked him down successfully in Himachal Pradesh under Operation Checkmate. The police have arrested five accused, including a woman, while one other accused remains at large. The police said that efforts to nab the absconding accused are underway. A video of the Jaipur Police meeting the victim after locating him in Solan, where he was held captive, has gone viral on social media.
The victim, Anuj, resident of Jaipur's Brahmpuri area, had gone to Nahargarh hills with his friend Soni on August 18 when a few men noticed him at the spot. Assuming he was from a wealthy family due to his attire, they decided to kidnap him. They approached him, taped his mouth, tied his hands and feet, and abducted him. The kidnappers took him in a car, assaulted his friend and abondoned him on the way, NDTV reported.
When it got late and Anuj did not return home his parents filed a missing person report. The police, thereafter, interrogated his friend Soni and searched the Nahargarh hills using drones. Multiple police teams were deployed as part of the operation to find Anuj, whom the police believed was kidnapped.
Meanwhile, Anuj's parents received a ransom call from the kidnappers, who demanded 20 lakhs from them in exchange of their son's release. The family requested time from them to collect the money as they did not have it at their disposal.
The family informed the police about the call, following which the phone number of the kidnappers was put on tracking. The kidnappers constantly changed their locations to evade arrest, making it challenging for the police to pinpoint their exact location. One day they called up the family again and instructed them to bring the money and sit in the last compartment of the Kalka-Shimla Express train, the report noted.
Police teams were informed about this and the teams were strategically positioned along the train's route to apprehend the kidnappers. When the kidnappers asked the family to throw the money bag near Dharampur railway station, the police nabbed the individual who was waiting there.
Subsequently, he was interrogated by the police, leading them to the other accomplices in Solan. According to the police, the mastermind behind the crime was Virendra Singh, a software engineer. He hatched the kidnapping and ransom plan with others to make quick money. The five arrested individuals include Virendra Singh, Vinod, Amit Kumar, Jitendra Bhandari, and Jamuna Sarkar. Efforts are on to arrest another individual involved in the kidnapping.
Anuj was finally rescued by the Jaipur Police on August 27. He was asleep at a hotel when the police reached him. In the video that has gone viral, the policemen can be seen waking Anuj up, telling him that he is safe and that they were there to rescue him.
Commissioner of Police Sri Biju George Joseph said that a hardworking and professional team from various departments led them to solve the challenging case.