A suspected kidnapper was shot dead by the Crime Branch of Delhi in Sahibabad, Ghaziabad. The Crime Branch had raised a premises in Shalimar City after getting reports that a five-year-old child who was abducted from school bus in Shahdara on Republic Day eve was held hostage there. The child was subsequently rescued safely.

Police said the alleged kidnappers opened fire on the police team which had gone to rescue the child. police returned fire in which one of the suspects, Ravi (23), was hit in the chest.He died on the spot. Two of his accomplices, namely Nitin Sharma (28) and Pankaj (21) were arrested.

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Addressing a press conference, Crime Branch joint commissioner Alok Kumar stated that the child did not suffer any injury. Kumar said the three suspects had hatched a plan to kidnap the child after “Sunny Gupta, father of the child, recently finalised a real estate deal of Rs 60 lakh. The details of the deal were in common knowledge of everyone who stayed in Gupta’s locality GTB Enclave. Nitin thought he could earn a good ransom if he kidnapped Gupta’s son.”

DCP crime branch Ram Gopal Naik told The Statesman that the accused had thrice tried to abduct the kid before they were successfu. Naik said on the day of the incident, a girl who was picked up last by the bus arrived late. Due to that the bus had to stand at the place for more than 10 minutes. That enabled the alleged kidnappers to tak advantage of the situation. They forcibly entered the bus and abducted the child, leaving behind his sister. The accused also shot the driver on his leg when he tried to save the child.

Due to the sensitivity of the case, the matter was handed over to the Crime Branch. During investigation the numbers from which ransom calls were made was traced, CCTV footage of the route connecting Delhi-Ghazaibad was examined and local sources were informed to share inputs on suspects.

“As ransoms calls were also made from nearby areas we selected few areas and kept a close watch on few suspects there. Meanwhile, through local sources and technical surveillance, police identified Nitin as a prime suspect. Police kept track on his activities and deployed sources to keep a closer watch on him,” he said.

“When we share Nitin’s pictures with the victim’s father, he identified him as a frequent visitor of the area,” Naik added. After thorough investigation Nitin was identified as one of the kidnappers, the officer claimed.

“Police started following Nitin from 8 p.m. till 12.30 midnight. He was driving his Swift at the speed close to 90km/hr to 100km/hr. Police followed him on four bikes and four vans. During that time, Nitin went to a lane where the kidnapped boy was kept and dropped two girls there. They are under scanner,” Naik said.

“Around 12.30 a.m Nitin was intercepted near community block in Seemapuri. Before his vehicle stopped, he hit our vehicles and he was apparently drunk. He was also carrying three mobile phones. On interrogation he told police that two of his friends had kept the child in a flat in Shalimar City in Sahibabad,” said ” Naik said.

“A team of 16 police officers, including commandos, reached the flat on the fifth floor. Nitin was told to ring the bell, which Ravi answered. After he had slightly opened the door, he sensed the presence of police. Ravi quickly locked the door from inside and opened fire. Two police personnel were hit by bullets but their bullet-proof jackets saved them. Naik said in retaliation police too fired through a wooden door. Bothe Ravi and Pankaj were hit.

Subsequently, police forced open the door and one of the officers found the child under a bed. The child was traumatised by gunshots and had tried perhaps tried to save himself by hiding under the bed.

Both the suspects were taken to GTB Hhospital where Ravi was declared brought dead while Pankaj was put under medical care.