Children these days are fast-learners but a 11-year-old boy from Hisar has taken the phrase “catch them young” to another level altogether! In a shocking incident, a schoolboy allegedly abducted a two-and-a-half-year-old from a playschool and then demanded Rs3 lakh as ransom.
However, the abductor, a neighbour of the toddler, was apprehended within two hours of picking up the child as the police tracked his mobile phone.
The Shivaji Colony Police have registered a case against the boy on the complaint of the victim’s father. The boy was produced before a juvenile court, which remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days at the Bal Sudhaar Ghar in Hisar. Son of an advocate, the accused studies at a private school.
The boy first turned up at the Janta Colony playschool and hour before closing time. He told the teachers that the toddler’s parents had asked him to collect the child since they were indisposed. The accused took the child with him somewhere and called the latter’s father, who is an accountant at a private company.
He sought Rs3 lakh as extortion money within ten minutes for returning the child alive.
“I will call you soon and tell you where and when you have to bring the money. You will face dire consequences if you tell the police,” he threatened the hapless father over the phone.
The horrified man rushed to the playschool where he found his son missing. He immediately lodged a complaint with the police, who set up four teams to trace the missing child. Cyber experts also put the man’s phone on tap and recorded the second phone call, tracing the kidnapper to Beri Road, near the foodgrain market.
Police searched the area for over an hour but finally managed to nab the boy. The juvenile court asked the police to question the 11-year-old in the presence of his parents, but they did not turn up despite being told of their son’s crime.
A source said, "The accused revealed that he had hatched the plot on an idea from movies he saw. He wanted to a lot of money through short cut."