Fake documents submitted by a newly minted Ola driver, who had abducted a doctor from Delhi on July 6, made it extremely difficult to ascertain the identities of the accused, the police said on Thursday.
Joint operation
Sreekanth Goud was rescued in a joint operation by the Delhi Police and the Uttar Pradesh Police from Meerut on Wednesday, 13 days after his abduction. Pramod Kumar, Amit Kumar alias Billu, Sohanveer, and Nepal alias Goverdhan were arrested following a shootout, while four others, including the cab driver, are still at large.
Preliminary interrogation and investigation have revealed absconding siblings Sushil and Anuj, both residents of Dadri village, as the main accused. They allegedly roped in their neighbours Gaurav Sharma and Vivek alias Modi for the abduction, said the police.
The victim, a native of Telangana and resident of Delhi, works with Metro Hospital. Dr. Goud had booked a cab around 11 p.m. on July 6 from Preet Vihar to Gautam Nagar, where he lives on rent.
The driver assigned to him was one who had joined the cab aggregator just three days before the incident and Dr. Goud was his first customer. The police said the cab aggregator’s nodal officer gave them the car owner’s documents, including Aadhaar Card, PAN card, cheque leaf, driving licence, company registration certificate, certificate of fitness and insurance policy certificate.
Car ‘owner’ illiterate
“All documents were found to be fake during investigation,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Eastern Range) Ravindra Yadav, adding that this made it extremely difficult to ascertain the identities of the abductors.
“Most documents were in the name of Shalimar Bagh resident Vinita Devi. She is illiterate and uses a thumb impression for bank transactions. She has never been issued a cheque book,” said the officer.
Lapses in verification
On lapses in verification, a cab aggregator source said the abductor had tried to associate himself with the company four time earlier and managed to get in the fifth time. “This clearly implies criminal intent,” he said.
Interestingly, the ransom call for ₹5 crore was made to the company instead of the victim’s family. The abductors had called the customer care helpline stating that they had kidnapped the passenger.
“They were absolutely certain the company would pay the ransom for the sake of its reputation. They also felt that the cab aggregator had the capacity to pay the huge amount,” said Mr. Yadav.
Calls from across UP
Ransom calls from different locations in Uttar Pradesh made using the doctor’s phone, which the accused would switch off immediately after the calls, made it difficult to trace their location. Mr. Yadav said several teams were formed and they camped in difficult conditions to crack the case.
“The teams camped in villages, fields, canals and jungles to ensure the doctor’s successful recovery. The areas covered by them included Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, Baghpat, Hapur, Meerut, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar and Haridwar,” he claimed.
The police also spoke to disgruntled Ola drivers to analyse their profile for clues but in vain. The police finally nabbed the four accused with help of technical surveillance and human intelligence.
On July 16, the police received a tip-off and followed a vehicle purportedly transporting the abductors. However, the accused managed to give the police a slip by fleeing inside sugar cane fields at Daurala village.
“They left the car behind, which helped understand their plan and gave us a broad idea of their location,” said Mr. Yadav.
He added that there were masks, aluminium foil and rubber bands in the car, which the abductors might have planned to use after receiving the ransom.
Detailed plan
The police received yet another tip-off on Wednesday that Dr. Goud’s was being held at Partapur village. The police team surrounded the house. During the shootout, one of the accused got injured in the left leg. Dr. Goud was rescued and handed over to his family,” said Mr. Yadav.
The police said the accused had planned the abduction in detail, including carrying out the crime during Kanwar season and wearing saffron clothes to conceal their identities.
