Gzb bizman’s son freed from captors in dramatic 20-hour rescue operation

In a dramatic 20-hour operation, the Ghaziabad Police on Monday rescued a 13-year-old son of a city-based businessman from the clutches of kidnappers, who had demanded a ransom of Rs 2 crore from the boy’s family. 

The police rescued the boy from premises of a private school after a full-blown encounter and arrested four criminals, including two of the victim’s relatives. The boy was abducted at gunpoint from Rajnagar Extension on Sunday evening. A ransom call for Rs 2 crore was made in the wee hours of Monday, police said.

The police said Jaikaran Mahajan, a student of Class 8 at Khetan Public school, had gone to watch a cricket match at a nearby stadium, from where he was abducted. His parents – Vivek and Anita Mahajan – lodged a complaint at the Sihani Gate police station. 

Two police teams were formed and a rescue operation was launched. Amid this, the family received a ransom call demanding Rs 2 crore. The caller also threatened the family of dire consequences, if they approached the police.

“As we received the complaint, we started questioning guards and other staff at the society. We also gathered CCTV footage of the society,” said SHO Ranbir Singh. The police tracked the kidnappers by putting on surveillance the phone, which was used to make the ransom call. 

Around 3:30 pm, four kidnappers were held after an exchange of fire in Raj Nagar’s Royal Kids International school.

The police are searching for their other accomplices. They have also detained Richa Sood, a state-level athlete and the owner of Royal Kids International. 

The mastermind of the incident, Sandeep, is son of an employee of the school. He suffered a bullet injury during the encounter and was admitted to Sarvodya Hospital. Bittu and Deepak, relatives of the victim are the other accused and were arrested from the spot. They live in the same society as the Mahajans. The fourth accused is yet to be identified.

“Jaikaran was kidnapped by three youths in a luxury car when he was returning after watching the match. The kidnappers made a call which was put on surveillance. Their location was traced in the same area following which we swung into action” said Ajay Pal, SP (City) Ghaziabad.