Chargesheet filed in abduction of kid on eve of R-Day

Delhi Police Crime Branch has filed the chargesheet in the sensational kidnapping case of a five-year-old boy who was kidnapped from a school van in East Delhi's GTB Enclave area on the eve of Republic Day. The boy was safely rescued by the Crime Branch team after one of the teams led by Dr Ram Gopal Naik (DCP Crime) traced the kidnappers, shot one dead and arrested the other three.

The charge sheet was filed before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CM) Ajay Garg in the Karkardooma Court and the accused were booked under sections 307, 363, 364A, 392, 356, 379, 411 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Arms Act.

In the 43 page chargesheet mentions that Pankaj and Ravi had allegedly kidnapped the boy from the school bus on January 25 near IBHAAS on the Mandoli Road on the directions of Nitin. They had also shot at bus driver Naresh Thapa, it stated.

The investigating officer (IO) has listed 81 witnesses. Other evidence include footage taken from CCTV cameras on the route from where the boy was kidnapped.

The chargesheet mentioned that one of the kidnappers, Nitin, made the ransom calls in the voice of a woman to mislead the cops. The charge sheet also mentions that Anshul Malhotra, who happened to be a friend of the mastermind Nitin, had supplied arms to them.

Police have sent Nitin's voice samples for forensic examination and report is awaited, a senior police official privy to the investigation said.

The officer said that they have listed 20 mobile phones that were used by the kidnappers to make calls to the boy's father. To avoid getting caught, the kidnappers used to make whatsapp calls and sent a video of the child saying "I love you papa" to the boy's father. Police team took that video grab in which the caller was seen. What followed next was meticulous investigation as the sleuths circulated Nitin's photo to beat officers and finally he was identified by a beat constable of Gokulpuri police station.

Police shared that Nitin was arrested from Seemapuri on February 5 when he was returning from a marriage party. The team, dressed in civil clothes, was keeping a tab on his movements and had entered the wedding venue posing as guests.               

Earlier the sensational kidnapping was probed by Shahdara police district. It was transferred to the elite investigating unit- Crime Branch on January 28 by Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik.

The rescue operation, named "C River" was led by Inspector Vinay Tyagi.  The name of the operation was decided after the kidnappers asked for the ransom money to be handed over to them near Cross River Mall in Shahdara.

After a brief encounter with the kidnappers, the child, Vihaan Gupta was safely rescued by the team of 100 cops of Crime Branch led by DCP Dr Ram Gopal Naik. On the morning of February 6, the child was rescued from the Sahibabad area

While one of the kidnappers, Ravi died in the police encounter, Pankaj, Nitin Sharma and Anshul Malhotra were arrested by the Crime Branch.

 To avoid suspicion, the five year old was held captive for eleven days in a flat, was surrounded with his favourite food and toys. The kidnappers lived with the boy like a normal family.

Sustained efforts of the team led by Dr Ram Gopal Naik bore fruit when the kidnappers were traced to a flat in Shalimar City in Sahibabad. After a hot exchange of fire, the child was rescued.

The kidnappers revealed that they had made three attempts to kidnap the child, Vihaan  but managed to abduct him only on the morning of January 25. While kidnapping the boy, the kidnappers had opened fire at the bus driver, Naresh Thapa.

A senior police officer told The Pioneer, "The accused had made a ransom call to the parents of the child, demanding Rs 60 lakhs. All the accused belonged to the Gokulpuri area and got to know about the recent financial dealings made by the child's father, following which they had planned to, kidnap the child. For three consecutive days, Pankaj and Ravi trailed the child but were able to kidnap him only on the fourth day, i.e., a day before the Republic Day."