Navsari: The Gujarat police have rescued a 14-year-old girl from Uttar Pradesh within 48 hours of her being kidnapped from Navsari district for a ransom of Rs 1 crore and arrested four persons involved in the crime, an official said on Tuesday.
The accused allegedly abducted the girl from the Gandevi area of Navsari on November 10, and made WhatsApp calls to her parents demanding Rs 1 crore, inspector-general of police (Surat range) V Chandrasekhar said. The police caught Samir Pathan, Abhishekh Chaudhary and Pradeep Chaudhary from a bus near Lucknow and arrested another accused Mohit Chaudhary from a slum in Delhi, he said.
Based on technical analysis of the WhatsApp calls and Snapchat details, and with the help of the police in Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, the girl was rescued near Lucknow within 48 hours of being kidnapped, the official said. The Navsari police first learnt that the victim was being taken to Rajasthan by train and sought the help of the Government Railway Police (GRP) in the neighbouring state, he said.
The police were later informed that the girl was taken to a slum in Delhi. On reaching there, the police apprehended Mohit Chaudhary, who revealed that the girl was being taken to Lucknow on a bus by the other accused, the official said. With the help of the Uttar Pradesh police, the bus was located and intercepted near Lucknow. The police rescued the girl and arrested the trio, he said.
The police formed separate field and technical teams to work on the case, he said. Chandrasekhar said the main accused, Pathan, had allegedly lured the girl and persuaded her to accompany him before kidnapping her with the help of his three accomplices. The girl's parents had transferred Rs 12,000 to the accused and continued to negotiate with them on WhatsApp, he said. The Snapchat and WhatsApp call details provided vital clues to track the girl and the culprits, the officer added.
