Meerut: In Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh, the police have arrested three miscreants after an encounter in the case of kidnapping the daughter of a junior engineer (JE) posted in Jal Nigam and demanding a ransom of Rs 3 crore. According to the police, the former driver of the JE had carried out the incident with his two companions. One of the arrested accused is also an employee of Jal Nigam.
Additional Superintendent of Police (city area) Ayush Vikram Singh said on Tuesday that six-year-old Maysha, daughter of Mehboob, a junior engineer posted in Jal Nigam, was kidnapped from Shastrinagar area of Nauchandi police station area on Monday afternoon. According to the girl’s father, he was asked to pay a ransom of Rs 3 crore for the safe release of his daughter.
Singh said that as soon as the information about the incident was received, the police cordoned off the entire area and launched an intensive search operation. However, about two hours after the kidnapping, the girl returned home safely. A case was registered against unknown people on charges of kidnapping.
He said that during the investigation of the case, the role of former JE driver Akash was found suspicious. Late on Monday night, the police received information that Akash and his two companions were present near Nauchandi Ground. The police cordoned off the area and tried to arrest Akash and his companions. Seeing themselves surrounded by the police, they opened fire on the police team and tried to escape. Akash (27) and his companion Raju (35) were injured in police retaliation. They were arrested. Raju is an employee of Jal Nigam.
Singh said that later the police arrested another criminal named Ajay (18). The criminals injured in the encounter have been admitted to the district hospital for treatment. Two pistols have been recovered from them. Apart from this, the car used in the kidnapping of the JE’s daughter has also been recovered.
He said that during the initial interrogation of the arrested miscreants, it was revealed that Akash was removed from the job of a driver by JE Mehboob six months ago on the charge of stealing Rs 50,000. Akash and Raju are friends. Angry at being removed from the post of driver, Akash along with his friends had planned to kidnap the JE’s daughter.
Singh said that the accused had hired a car. On Monday afternoon around 1.30 pm, they were waiting for the girl to return from school outside Mehboob’s house. As soon as the girl got off the autorickshaw, Ajay forcibly made her sit in the car. Later, the accused took the girl towards Hapur road. On learning that the police had blocked the entire area and conducted a thorough inspection after getting information about the kidnapping, the kidnappers panicked and left the girl back and fled.