Doctor 'celebrated' birthday with his abductors

Dr Shrikanth Goud used to never take private cabs and always relied on public transport. But on July 6, he missed his Metro and decided to take an Ola cab.

With just four days to go before his birthday, the doctor's family thought that it would be a normal day as always. However, the doctor spent his birthday locked inside a room with his abductors.

Pramod Kumar, Amit Kumar, Sohanveer and Nepal – who were eventually arrested – were plotting their next plan of action, while the doctor waited. The abductors then barged into his room and asked him if he wanted to celebrate his birthday with alcohol and some dance.

The doctor was surprised by their gesture, but politely refused. Yet, the kidnappers gave him a birthday gift anyway: black sunglasses. Even after finally being rescued, Goud did not part with the glasses and even showed them to his relatives.

Dr A Narayan, the abducted doctor's uncle, was the first to connect Goud to his parents. "He talked to his father Janardhan, an agriculturist, and mother Bharatamma over the phone and could barely contain his emotions as he wept," said Narayan.

Speaking to reporters at the office of the DCP, East Delhi, Goud could barely contain his feelings.

"I thank Delhi Police for saving me. Mistakes may happen in life, but there is no point thinking about them. Ola did, after all, inform the police about my abduction," said Shrikanth, who then started sobbing. Visibly distressed, Goud had to be whisked away by cops as he was still under trauma.

The investigators who cracked the case alleged that Goud was made to go through episodes of psychological fear, as the abductors did not want him to get any ideas of fleeing. On the first day of captivity, Goud was beaten up by the accused.

They then took him to several locations having jail like conditions, with no bathroom and running water.

"They assaulted the doctor and made videos of him, claiming to be Al Qaeda operatives. They also made superficial cuts to his wrist to send a message that he could be killed at any time they wished," said Joint CP Ravindra Yadav.

However, according to Goud's relatives, that did not deter him from keeping a cool head and developing sympathy for his abductors. "He is a good natured man. He just told them that he will do whatever they want and happily ate the food they offered. He kept telling them that he is a poor man who came to Delhi to make a living and did not bear any grudge against them. That is his nature," said Sudhakaran Goud, one of the relatives.

Before the accused were caught, they had made a last call to his family on the night of July 16. "He is safe, don't worry. We will let him go," said one of the abductors during his phone call.