Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested four men for allegedly kidnapping a homoeopathic doctor and demanding a ransom of Rs 20 lakh, officials said on Saturday.
The accused, identified as Ram Babu Verma, Rajan Kumar, Amit Kumar, and Rajkumar Yadav, were nabbed by the police’s Special Task Force (STF) late Friday night, they said.
The suspects abducted Dr Surendra Singh from his clinic near Goel Hospital in the BBD City area on December 8 and took him to Ayodhya and other cities, Additional SP of UP STF Vishal Vikram Singh said, citing a complaint. The doctor was held hostage for at least three days, with kidnappers demanding a ransom of Rs 20 lakh, which was later negotiated down to Rs 10 lakh, he said.
Police said the doctor's family transferred Rs 9 lakh to his account to be transferred to the kidnappers. However, the criminals managed to get only Rs 7 lakh to their accounts.
The main accused and the mastermind behind the kidnapping, Ram Babu, allegedly confessed to the kidnapping for money. “Ram Babu revealed that he was facing a financial crisis and had incurred a huge debt, which is why he hatched this conspiracy with his friends to kidnap the doctor,” said an officer.
He said that all the accused were previously connected to each other, having studied together at Saket College Ayodhya. They were of the belief that kidnapping the doctor would fetch them a hefty ransom. On December 10, they eventually abandoned the doctor, who filed a complaint with the BBD police station.
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