With the arrest of three persons, the ludhiana (Rural) police on Monday cracked a kidnapping case within 48 hours.
Resident of Dhaipai village, Ranjit Singh, was kidnapped by some unknown persons on the evening of April 28. An FIR dated April 28, 2016, under sections 365, 364-A, 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at Jodhan Police Station. Ranjit Singh was let off by the kidnappers on late night of April 29.
“During investigation, the police came to know that Ranjit Singh’s family had paid ransom money of Rs 30 lakh for his release,” said Jalandhar IGP Zone II lok Nath Angra, and DIG ludhiana Range SK Kalia, in a press conference.
“The police started investigating the matter further and they got secret information about the kidnappers from the sources. ludhiana (Rural) SSP Upinderjit Singh Ghuman formed different teams on lookout of the kidnappers and several raids were also conducted,” they said.
They said that one of the accused, Gurjant Singh, was arrested from Khamano on May 1, and the other two, Mandeep Singh and Dr Mandeep Singh, were arrested on Monday.
“During the course of investigation, Mandeep Singh confessed in front of the police that he, along with his accomplices, had kidnapped Ranjit Singh, who is brother of NRI Hardeep Singh, for ransom. Mandeep Singh is cousin of Ranjit Singh, and he had planned the kidnapping of Ranjit Singh in connivance with his friends,” said the police officers.
They said that Mandeep knew very well that NRI Hardeep Singh would pay any amount for the sake of getting his brother Ranjit free. “That is why they initially demanded a ransom of Rs 1.50 crore from NRI Hardeep Singh, and later released Ranjit Singh by receiving a ransom amount of Rs 30 lakh. The ransom amount was paid by Ranjit’s brother Hardeep Singh,” they added.
During investigation, main accused Mandeep Singh also confessed that he had to pay back loan of Rs 40 lakh of bank, arhtiya and other persons and that is why, he hatched this conspiracy of kidnapping Ranjit Singh. This was the first crime which the trio committed, said the police.
After their arrest, the police have recovered Rs 10 lakh, Mahindra Scorpio vehicle (CH-55-E-0833) from Mandeep Singh, Rs 9.45 lakh and a motorcycle from Gurjant Singh and Rs 9.45 lakh from Dr Mandeep Singh.