STF, Gonda police arrest 4 kidnappers, rescue teen medical student

A resident of Bahraich district, Gaurav Haldar is a first-year student of Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) at a college in Gonda and used to stay in the hostel.

In a joint operation, Uttar Pradesh Police’s Special Task Force (STF) and Gonda police on Friday arrested four people, including an Ayurvedic doctor, in Greater Noida and rescued a 19-year-old medical student who was kidnapped last week.

Additional Superintendent of Police, STF, Raj Kumar Mishra said, “While four people have been arrested, one person is absconding.”

A resident of Bahraich district, Gaurav Haldar is a first-year student of Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) at a college in Gonda and used to stay in the hostel. Police said the accused had demanded a ransom of Rs 70 lakh from his father, Nikhil Haldar, a medical practitioner in Bahraich.

Those arrested have been identified as Dr Abhishek Singh, his cousin Rohit Singh, Nitesh Kashyap and Mohit Singh – all in their twenties.

Main accused Abhishek has a BAMS degree from a Bangalore college and works at a Delhi hospital. Police are conducting raids to trace Abhishek’s colleague Dr Preeti Mehra who was also involved in the abduction and is at large.

Police said Rohit gave his cousin, Abhishek, the idea of kidnapping Gaurav. Abhishek planned the abduction and roped in Preeti to lay the trap.

“Preeti started calling Abhishek and talked to him for nearly four days. She asked Gaurav to meet her outside his college in Gonda on January 18,” said Inspector, STF, Saurabh Vikram Singh, who was part of the police team that made the arrests.

On January 18, Preeti called up Gaurav from a cellphone of a passerby. “When Gaurav reached the spot to meet Preeti, the accused dragged him inside the car. Abhishek gave him anesthesia after which he fell unconscious. The accused drove to Delhi and kept Gaurav at Abhishek’s flat. Nitesh and Rohit called up Gaurav’s family twice and demanded a ransom of Rs 70 lakh,” said Singh.

On getting the calls, Nikhil Haldar called up the college authorities and came to know that his son was not in hostel. He then approached the police.

On Saturday, on Haldar’s conmplaint, a case was lodged against unidentified persons for kidnapping his son.

Early on Friday morning, the police laid a trap at Knowledge Park in Greater Noida after they got the information that the accused were travelling from Delhi to Lucknow to collect the ransom. Based on a tip-off, the police team tried to stop their car, but the accused opened fire on the officers. The police retaliated and forced the driver to stop. As the vehicle stopped, the accused started to run away. Police managed to catch Abhishek, Nitesh and Mohit.

Police recovered Gaurav from Nitesh’s car. Later in the day, Rohit was arrested from Gonda.

Police said, Mohit, a resident of Gonda, used to work at a saree shop in Delhi. Rajasthan native Nitesh is Mohit’s friend and had allegedly obtained the SIM card with the help of fake documents to make the ransom calls.

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