A carpenter has been arrested along with his two brothers for allegedly kidnapping the son of his employer in Malka Ganj here over a dispute of outstanding dues of Rs.4,000. The child has been rescued.
Gaurav Bali, a resident of Malka Ganj “C” Block, was on his way to Moti Bagh on Saturday afternoon in connection with his business when his father Kawal Kishan called him up to inform him that his four-year-old son Rajbir had gone missing. Mr. Bali, who runs an auto parts shop at Sehgal Motor Markets in Kashmere Gate, rushed home and reported the matter to the Subzi Mandi police station after the boy could not be traced in the neighbourhood.
“Taking up investigation, a list of the employees at the shop and the frequent visitors to the house was prepared. It revealed that a carpenter known to the family for the past several years and presently carrying out some wooden work at the house was missing. When called, his mobile was found switched off. It caused suspicion and raids were mounted at his house and possible hide-outs,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) I.B. Rani.
When the carpenter, Sarfraz (26), got to know that the police were looking for him, he contacted Mr. Bali on his phone and said that he was coming to his house. Denying any involvement in the crime, Sarfraz told the police that his mobile phone battery had got discharged and so the instrument was out of reach. On sustained interrogation, he purportedly confessed to having kidnapped the child as Mr. Bali owed him Rs.4,000. He further revealed that he had handed over the child to his brothers at Khajoori Khas bus stand and returned to avoid any suspicion.
“We then made Sarfraz call up his brothers asking them to meet him at Ghaziabad. Sensing that something was amiss, his brothers kept changing their location and were eventually arrested near Gagan Cinema in Nand Nagari. The two were identified as Sartaz (23) and Gul Mohammad (20) and the boy was rescued,” said Ms. Rani. The three had planned to extort money from the victim's family, the police said.
Elated on his son being reunited with the family, Mr. Bali said: “We had engaged Sarfarz recently for some wooden work in the kitchen. He usually left in the evening, but on Saturday he left around 1 p.m. We do not remember which outstanding dues he is talking about.”
