The 20-year-old arrested for making ransom calls to a relative of missing Jawaharlal Nehru University student Najeeb Ahmed had assured the family of his release. He had even given them a location where they were asked to come with the ransom amount, said the police.
Accused being interrogated
Mohammad Shamim, who has thrown up several names, has been changing his version ever since he was arrested, said the police who have been interrogating him since Sunday, which is when he was brought to the Capital from Maharajganj. During his phone calls and SMSes, he had told the family that they could bring the money to a fixed spot in his hometown where he would hand over the abducted student.
Calls made to Najeeb’s uncle
The calls and texts were sent to Musharraf Hussain, Najeeb’s uncle based in Delhi. Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Hussain’s daughter Sadaf Irshad said that while she was not aware of all the conversations her father had with the caller, she did say that he later switched to sending texts from different numbers.
Caller had five SIM cards
Investigations have also revealed that Shamim was carrying at least five SIM cards that he procured on fake ids.
“ Najeeb chaiye kya? Agar chahiye to bees lakh dene honge ,” he is alleged to have said during one call.
According to Ms. Irshad, they had received many calls since Najeeb’s disappearance, but the caller in this case was persistent. The family, who promptly reported the matter to the police, were advised to “play along.”
Cops were informed
“We were told to keep the caller engaged by pretending to believe him and even negotiate. We followed their advice and revised the ransom amount to ₹15 lakh. Then he went incommunicado,” Ms. Irshad added.
No clean chit yet
An investigator said they had still not given a clean chit to Shamim as far as the actual kidnapping was concerned. His claims of a prank call are being looked into.
On Sunday, a team sent to Maharajganj had detained Shamim from the Civil Lines area.
A B.A. student, he was earlier arrested in connection with a murder case. He was later granted bail, sources said.
