NEW DELHI: Four days after a maulana had been abducted from southeast Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh for a Rs 25-lakh ransom, Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has rescued him and arrested five kidnappers.
Sadaqat (23), the mastermind, was a former student of the maulana, said DCP (crime) Bhisham Singh. The victim, associated with a madrassa in Shaheen Bagh, allegedly had Sadaqat’s Rs 20 lakh with him but was not returning it, prompting the accused to hatch the plot, police said.
The cops were informed about the abduction on April 6 when a man reported that his brother, Maulana Mohammad Muntazir Alam, a resident of Shaheen Bagh, had been missing since April 5. An FIR was registered and the investigation taken up. The victim’s family subsequently received a ransom call from his number and was asked to pay Rs 25 lakh.
“The incident had created panic in the family of the victim and in the society. Hence, several teams were formed to solve the case and rescue the victim,” DCP Singh said. The teams developed intelligence about possible suspects and mounted technical surveillance. Footage from CCTV cameras were collected and analysed, and the victim was visible in one of them accompanied by a youth, later identified as Sadaqat.
Sadaqat’s mobile phone was found switched off, but sub-inspector Arun Sindhu and his team used technical help and arrested him following a raid at Harol in Noida. On the basis of his information, the cops reached N Block, Abul Fazal Enclave in Shaheen Bagh.
There was high drama when police went to conduct a raid at N Block. They broke open the doors of a flat and found the victim shackled with iron chains. The other accused, all in their early 20s, were also arrested. They have been identified as Shamim, Nabi Hasan, Firdaus and Manzar Alam.
During interrogation, Sadaqat disclosed that he was a student of the maulana in 2008. Sadaqat was running a food stall in Okhla and used to deposit his savings with Alam for five years. He had kept Rs 20 lakh with the maulana that he had earned from the stall and by betting on cricket matches. But when Sadaqat asked Alam to return the money, he refused to return it. This prompted Sadaqat to hatch the plot to teach Alam a lesson and get his money back.
As per the plan, Sadaqa had rented a house in Shaheen Bagh with his associates and contacted the maulana to visit the house and perform rituals there. But when Alam came to the house, he was chained and kept in a room.