The Delhi Police has arrested a 38-year-old man for kidnapping two children, including a 11-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy and demanding 50 lakh as ransom from East Delhi’s Vikas Marg.
According to the police on Friday, on the evening of June 28, a couple with their 11-years-old daughter and 3-years-old son came to Delhi from Faridabad in their Eco Sports car for a long drive and to enjoy street food before the academic year began for the kids.
As the couple parked their car in front of a shop with the engine on mode, leaving their children in the car momentarily to buy sweets from a shop, the accused identified as Prateek Shrivastava swiftly entered the vehicle, claiming to the daughter that her father had asked him to move the car. When the daughter of the couple protested, the accused brandished a meat chopper and threatened to harm her if she made any noise.
The police deployed four teams to chase the kidnapper based on technical surveillance and other clues. “Immediately, the District Control Room was activated to coordinate with other districts regarding intercepting the vehicle at local pickets and active checkpoints. Night patrolling staff across Delhi was also alerted. Additional teams were sent to Sonipat Border for intercepting the vehicle if it tries to cross the border,” the DCP added
“After about seven to eight minutes, when the parents returned, they were shocked to find their car missing. The father called his daughter's phone, but it was answered by a kidnapper who demanded 50 lakhs for the safe return of the children.
Immediately, the couple approached the nearest police station,” DCP East Apoorva Gupta said, adding that a case under section 364A IPC was registered at police station Shakarpur.
“During interrogation, the accused disclosed that he had observed instances where parents briefly left their children in cars with the engine running. This prompted him to devise a plan to kidnap children along with the car, aiming to demand a significant ransom from their parents,” the DCP added.
During his time in Shakarpur, the accused noted the bustling evening hours near Heera Sweets on Vikas Marg, where parents would leave their cars running while quickly visiting the shop, due to the current high temperatures and humidity in Delhi. He meticulously planned the kidnapping at Heera Sweets, having conducted reconnaissance of the area a week and four days prior to the incident.
“After an intense chase spanning around three hours and covering approximately 200 kilometers with about 20 police vehicles, when the kidnapper couldn't find a way, he abandoned the vehicle and left the children unattended in the Samaypur Badli Area. Fortunately, both children were rescued safely and were reunited with their parents,” the DCP stated.
He added that the accused, who worked as an AC mechanic, had planned to collect the ransom using fast delivery app services like Porter, WeFast, or Borzo within an hour of booking the service in Delhi NCR.
Further, he has studied up to class 10th and earlier used to work as a cab driver at Ola and Uber and he has also worked in Swiggy and Zomato, which made him well versed with the topography of Delhi.
