Panipat, May 24 (Bureau) Haryana Police has rescued a 27-year-old youth, who was kidnapped on Saturday, after an encounter and nabbed all four accused. Giving this information here on Monday, a spokesperson of Haryana Police said that the arrested accused were identified as Neeraj alias Baba of Bharat Nagar, Saurabh of Saini Colony Panipat and Ankur of Daulara Titawi Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh. The accused had kidnapped Neeraj (27), a resident of Saini Colony in Panipat on Saturday. On the complaint of Neeraj’s brother Ashish, the police started efforts to nab the kidnappers by registering a case against unknown persons. The police team was gathering information about the accused after reaching Muzaffarnagar on Sunday on the basis of vehicle number.
Meanwhile, Ashish called the CIA-in-charge Inspector Rajpal and was informed that he had received a call from the accused and they were demanding ransom of Rs 80 lakh to release his brother. Searching at various places in the area to nab the accused, the police team reached near the drain on Chhajpur road on Monday morning, when the team got secret information that 3-4 youths were riding in a vehicle on the road from Mohali to Rajkhedi with an intention to commit a crime. When the team also informed the other team present in the patrol and suppressed it, the accused started fire on police team, the police also fired in retaliation in which two accused were injured. The police team caught the three accused on the spot. The accused had tied Neeraj with a rope in the fields about one kilometer ahead of the encounter site and left one of his companions. The kidnapped Neeraj was rescued safely from the possession of the accused, while the fourth accused was also arrested from the spot.
The arrested accused Saurabh and Ankur, who were injured by bullets during the encounter, have been admitted to Rohtak PGI for treatment. Another case against the accused for a deadly attack on the police team was registered in Thana Qila under IPC section and Arms Act. Police interrogation revealed that after kidnapping Neeraj from Panipat on Saturday, accused reached Baghpat UP from KMP via GT Road from Raja Khedi, Kurad, Bapoli, Samalkha. There they spent the night in the forest near Sardhana. On Sunday, they snatched a phone from a person and called Neeraj’s brother Manish for ransom. Accused Saurabh, the master mind of the gang, puts up chowmin’s corner near the old vegetable market. both the accused and Neeraj lived in Saini Colony. Saurabh was aware that Neeraj’s family had enough money. He along with his associates was planning to kidnap Neeraj for the last two months.
Neeraj works with his father on sugarcane crusher. He has also been found to have a criminal record in the past. There are 3 cases registered against the accused under different sections of theft. The accused was lodged in Ambala jail about 2 years ago. About one and a half years ago, he had escaped from the jail along with many other prisoners. The accused Ankur works as a driver. Further police interrogation of the accused is on. Accused Neeraj alias Baba and Saurabh are originally residents of Muzaffarnagar district of UP. Both of them started living in Panipat with family for the last 15 years.