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No trace of kidnapped boy

Special Correspondent

Lucknow case assumes political overtones as police grope in the dark

LUCKNOW: Twenty-four hours after the sensational kidnapping of a cloth merchant's son, Mohit Chandani, from the busy Aliganj area of Lucknow, the police were still groping in the dark on Wednesday. The 16-year-old, studying in Class X at Brightway School, was abducted by three unidentified Indica-borne kidnappers while he was on his way to school.

With the police failing to crack the case, the shopkeepers in Kapurthala market in Aliganj and in most of the trans-Gomti areas of the city observed a day-long bandh in protest against the kidnapping. The Director-General of Police, G.L.Sharma, suspended four policemen, including the Station House Officer of the Aliganj police station, Sanjay Bajpai, for dereliction of duty. As the sensational kidnapping gradually assumed political overtones - the Leader of the Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Asembly, Lalji Tandon, has given a 24-hour ultimatum to the police to trace the kid -- the Special Task Force of the UP police has stepped in to conduct the investigations.

According to STF sources, the kidnapping appeared to have been planned. This was evident from the fake registration number of the vehicle. Sources said the UP40 C3665 registration number of the Indica was found to be that of a motorcycle. This was done to hoodwink the police, STF sources said.

Interrogation of the boy's friends revealed that he had complained to them of being followed by a car while on way to school. Another lead gathered by the police was a chain snatching incident involving Mohit's mother, Kanchan Chandani.

Her chain was snatched by some unknown persons in Aliganj about a month ago. Sources said some youths supposedly involved in chain snatching were intercepted near an amusement park in Aliganj by some persons and Ms. Chandani. In fact, the kidnapping was executed in filmy style. While the boy was usually dropped at school in his father's car, he went to school on Tuesday by his scooter. At around 7.30 a.m. as he was approaching his school, a grey Indica hit the scooter. This was followed by a scuffle between Mohit and the unknown youths. As a crowd gathered, one of the youths pulled a revolver and fired in the air after which they dragged the boy into their car and sped away on the Ring Road towards Jankipuram.

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