Two incidents of abduction reported in Dehradun district in a year have instilled a sense of insecurity among the denizens of State capital. However, in both the cases Dehradun police succeeded in rescuing the abducted boys unhurt and without their parents paying any ransom. Those involved were arrested too.
Yet, insecurity continues to gnaw at the people who are not sure of police repeating its feat in case their children are abducted. “We know police cracked the two cases successfully and freed the boys unhurt without their parents paying ransoms. Things are reassuring, but still fear hardly dies down,” said Sohan Bisht, a resident of Kewal Vihar (Dehradun).
Meanwhile, three kidnappers involved in abduction of 14-year-old Hardik were sent to Suddhowala jail after being produced in the court on Tuesday.
Statistics reveal that in November 2014, BSNl officer’s son Harshit Tayal was abducted and a ransom of `5 crore was demanded for his release. Police had rescued Harshit and arrested five persons, including a woman, involved in it.
On July 23, 2015, Hardik Rawat, resident of Rishikesh, was kidnapped by Shamli natives Omveer Malik and his sons -- Mohit Malik and Rohit Malik -- and a Rishikesh resident Satyam. Dehradun Police rescued Rawat from the clutch of abductors. This aside, police recovered `17.5 lakh from their possession.
In both the cases, Police had remained tight-lipped throughout the investigation, citing extreme caution they were exercising to have the boy freed from the abductors’ clutches safely. The police took a two-pronged approach to solve the case. They, on one hand, asked the parents to strike a deal with the abductors and, on the other, they engaged Special Operation Group (SOG), Special Task Force (STF) and three teams of police stations to work round the clock in tandem to rescue Hardik and arrest the accused.
A Rishikesh-based police officer said that a case under sections 364A, 368 and 328 of IPC was registered against the accused in the Rishikesh Police Station.
SP Rural GC Dhyani said that the investigation revealed that the abductors had kept Hardik in their home at Shamli. The abductors allegedly drugged him in cold drink on all the five days he was under captivity to keep him unconscious. Rohit Malik revealed that they had killed Satyam because they had to part with 50 per cent of ransom to him. They had made the conspiracy to get money to pay off their debts, he said while being grilled. Satyam was involved in the plan as Hardik was acquainted with him.
Rishikesh police officer said with Satyam being murdered by the abductors in Shamli, a case of murder will be lodged against them in police station concerned of Shamli district.
Elated with police achieving the breakthrough in the abduction case, State CM Harish Rawat and DGP BS Sidhu announced awards to the police team.