New Delhi   

Kidnapped child rescued

Staff Reporter

Three arrested; prime accused, wife still absconding

NEW DELHI: A five-year-old boy who was kidnapped from outside his house at Shakarpur in East Delhi on July 28 has been rescued by the East Delhi police. Three persons have been arrested.

According to the police, Shivanshu, son of Sushil Kumar Singh, a resident of West Guru Angad Nagar in Shakarpur, had gone missing after he returned from school. A woman was suspected to have kidnapped the child.

At least 15 teams were constituted under the supervision of Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), Ajay Chaudhary, and raids conducted at various places. Two days later, the family began getting ransom calls in which Rs. 5 lakhs were demanded.

In order to dodge the police, the callers used different public phone booths and asked Mr. Singh to meet him along with the ransom money at various places like Mandawali, South Extension and Connaught Place. But the kidnappers never turned up at these places.

During investigations, the police managed to identify three suspects, Shahnawaz Khan, Albert James and Kuldeep Agarwal. They were questioned at length and arrested when they allegedly confessed to having been involved in the kidnapping.

At their instance, the police managed to trace the hide-out of the prime accused, Shabbir Choudhary. However, Shabbir managed to escape along with his wife, Salma, and also the kidnapped child.

On Thursday, however, Shabbir called up the police to say that he had released Shivanshu near Metro station, Shahdara. A police team reached there and recovered the child. The Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), Madhup Tiwari, said Salma had kidnapped the child. She had waited for him to return from school and then, at an opportune moment, whisked him away. The boy was kept in an accommodation rented recently by Shabbir. Shabbir's step-brother, Shahnawaz, and his friends Albert and Kuldeep, had made the ransom calls.

According to the police, Shahnawaz used to work as contractor to supply waiters for Meenu Tent House, which is located in the same building in which Mr. Singh and his family lived. It was during his visits to the building that he realised that Mr. Singh could be a soft target for ransom.

Shahnawajz, a diploma holder in hotel management, had earlier worked at Hotel Sun `n' Sand in Mumbai. Kuldeep, son of a tailor, worked as a waiter in parties during which he came in contact with Shabbir. Efforts are now on to trace Shabbir and Salma.

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