During interrogation of the three accused who were arrested on Saturday night during a joint operation by Haridwar and Ghaziabad police, it was revealed that the main aim with which they had abducted the Ghaziabad businessman was that they wanted ransom to pay off a debt. The accused had plans to release the businessman Anil Arora and send him in a bus to his place in Patelnagar in Ghaziabad.
Notably, in the rescue operation which lasted for a few hours on Saturday night, businessman Anil Arora was rescued by Uttar Pradesh police’s crime branch following an encounter in Haridwar on Saturday evening. The accused had demanded a ransom of Rs 2crore for the businessman. The two abductors sustained bullet injuries in the encounter and had to be shifted to the district hospital. The main accused Pradeep Kumar works with Indian Air Force as a corporal and is currently posted in Delhi. He scripted the plan of abduction with the help of another accused Rashid. Anil Arora ran a hardware shop and was abducted outside his shop and brought to Meerut and then moved to Shyamli in Haridwar.
The main accused Pradeep Kumar is a resident of Jind in Haryana while Rashid is from Meerut. Speaking to The Pioneer, superintendent of police (City) Mamta Vohra said, “The main accused Pradeep Kumar had a debt of Rs 10-15 lakh which he could not pay off. To pay off his debt he hatched a conspiracy. He was connected to one Rashid for the past 2.5 years who suggested to him that the businessman be abducted for ransom.”
During interrogation it was further revealed that for abduction, the accused stole a car first from Punjab and got the number plate changed to a Haryana number plate. The pistol which they used was also stolen, said SP city. “Arora was seeing Rashid. He sat in the car and was ready to pay the amount but the greed of abductors grew more.
They brought him to Meerut and asked for Rs two crore ransom for his release. They kept on demanding more and more money by changing their location but killing was not their aim,” said Mamta Vohra. Mohsin, the third accused is the cousin of Rashid and did not know the proceedings and the plans of the abductors.