Seven arrested in school owner kidnapping case

With the arrest of five persons, the district police today claimed to have solved the case of kidnapping of a private school owner Rakesh Kumar from Mohalla Kayasthwada, Narnaul. The incident took place in Narnaul area on Friday. A motorcycle and car used in the crime have also been recovered and seized. It is striking that two young people have also been arrested in this case.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Pooja Vashishtha said the suspects were identified as Rajesh alias Raju of Khairoli village, Dinesh alias Chhotiya and Ashish of Kurahavta, Arun of Pal village and Alok of Nihalwas village in district.

All the suspects were remanded in police custody for two days to get more information about the crime, while the youths were sent to the youth home in Faridabad. Rajesh was the accused in a murder case registered in Rajasthan, she added.

“Rakesh Kumar had purchased Chanakya Public School in Bapdoli village early this year and Arun had some monetary transactions with the previous owner of the school, hence Arun hatched a plot along with others to recover the amount from Rakesh. As per the plan, the recovered amount would be distributed among all the suspects,” the SP said.

The district police spokesperson said Rakesh was abducted by the suspect on Friday afternoon while he was returning home from school on his scooter. As soon as Rakesh reached Jodhadas temple, Mehrampur, three suspects waylaid him and put him in the car. There were also two others in the car. They took him to a dense forest in Budeen village, located on the Rajasthan border, and demanded Rs 50 lakh from him, he added.

“When Rakesh refused to comply with the demand, the accused demanded Rs 25 lakh from him but he also denied this amount. Thereafter, the suspect twice digitally transferred Rs 50,000 and Rs 62,000 to a private company account from Rakesh’s mobile phone. The suspect then damaged his SIM card and fled the scene after leaving it in the forest. He somehow reached Budeen village and called his friend from a villager’s mobile phone,” the spokesperson said.

He said that when the police received information about the crime, they swung into action and reached the spot. Rakesh’s bank account was immediately frozen so that the suspect could not use the money. A procedure had been started to have the amount reimbursed to the victim. Two more suspects are yet to be arrested in the case, he added.