Shimla, Aug 28,
In a successful operation, Jaipur police have rescued a young man from Solan, Himachal Pradesh, a week after he was kidnapped and held hostage. The police arrested five individuals, including a woman, in connection with the case.
The kidnapping plot was allegedly orchestrated by Virendra Singh, a 40-year-old software engineer, who reportedly devised the plan to offset financial losses in his oil mill business. Singh is originally from the Kotwali police station area in Deeg district but he also rented a house in Solan’s Saproon area.
According to a report, the kidnappers mistook the youth, Anuj, for the son of a wealthy individual based on his appearance. Anuj, however, is the son of an auto rickshaw driver in Jaipur. The case was revealed by Jaipur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph on Tuesday.
The reports stated that the ordeal began on August 20, two days after the kidnapping, when Anuj’s father received a ransom demand of ₹20 lakh from the kidnappers. Adding, the initial call was traced to Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. Subsequent demands were made from Dehradun in Uttarakhand and Panchkula in Haryana, each time instructing the family to bring the ransom to different locations.
On August 22, Anuj’s mother, accompanied by a police team, traveled to Chandigarh as instructed by the kidnappers. They were then directed to Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, with orders to board the Himalayan Queen train and drop the ransom bag near Dharampur railway station.
In a coordinated effort, police officers already stationed at Dharampur became suspicious of an individual loitering with a walkie-talkie. A Sub-Inspector and other officers pursued the suspect, who attempted to flee but was apprehended. During questioning, the suspect confessed to the kidnapping and provided information about his accomplices.
Following the lead, police raided a house in Solan where Anuj was being held and successfully rescued him at 11:30 am. Five people were arrested in the operation, including Vinod (26) and Amit Kumar (24) from Deeg’s Kotwali police station area, Jitendra Bhandari (21) from Alwar district’s Kathumar area, and Jamuna Sarkar (36), a resident of Solan who lived with Singh in the house where Anuj was confined.
Police revealed that Singh had suffered significant financial losses in his oil mill business, prompting him to devise the kidnapping plan as a way to recover his losses.
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