The Delhi High Court has upheld the conviction of three persons for kidnapping the 13-year-old grandson of former Delhi MLA Suraj Prasad Paliwal from the Najafgarh area when he was on his way to school on a bicycle along with his servant in 1997.
The kidnappers, Ranbir Singh Pehelwal, Ved Pal alias Vedu, Ranbir Singh alias Pappu and Virender Singh alias Gerra, had pulled the boy into the Maruti car in which they were travelling and sped away.
Gerra had not challenged his conviction.
The servant knew the culprit who was driving the car because he had earlier driven the car of one of the family members of the boy.
Holding the four guilty of entering into a conspiracy to kidnap the boy for a ransom, the trial court had sentenced them to life imprisonment.
The evidence of the boy recorded before a Metropolitan Magistrate and the ransom note sent by one of the accused persons to the grandfather of the boy demanding Rs.2 crore and threatening to eliminate the boy if the demand was not met convinced the trial court it was the four accused who had kidnapped the boy.
Upholding the trial court judgment, a Division Bench of Justice B. D. Ahmed and Justice Man Mohan Singh said the prosecution had also been able to prove the conspiracy as the four had come in the same car and drove away with the boy.
“We do not find any reason to interfere with the impugned judgment and/or order on sentence. The appeals are dismissed,” the Bench said.
