Ahmedabad cops crack case, rescue boy from kidnappers

Two men kidnap a 17-year-old boy, hide him in a cupboard, and demand a ransom of Rs1 crore from his parents. Then they settle for Rs25 lakh. Finally, police nab them and rescue the boy. This may sound like a story from a Bollywood movie, but it actually happened in real life in the city when people were enjoying their Diwali vacation. 

But thanks to sustained and co-ordinated efforts by the city police, 17-year-old Yash Thakker who had been kidnapped on the night of October 25 was rescued and reunited with his parents on Tuesday. While two of the four accused were arrested, two others are at large.

Though the kidnapping took place a week back, the police kept it a secret in order to see that no harm was caused to the boy. The entire city crime branch with a staff of 250 personnel, along with Zone 1 DCP, formed 11 teams to crack the case. 

Yash was kidnapped near Wide Angle cinema on SG Highway on the night of October 25. The kidnappers put Yash on their Activa bike on the pretext that he was involved in eve-teasing of a girl called Neha. He was blindfolded soon after he sat on the bike.

He was taken to Nand Apartments at Gurukul, put inside a cupboard for a day, then in room for two days. Later, the men shifted the boy to a house at Vivekanand Nagar in Hathijan. The kidnappers, after they were arrested, told the police that they had borrowed the idea (way of kidnapping) from the film, Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local, of 2007.

"The kidnappers initially demanded Rs1 crore ransom from Yash's father Narendra. Narendra meanwhile had registered a complaint at Anandnagar police station and the news got published in a regional newspaper. This alerted the kidnappers, and they decided to kill Yash. Two of the kidnappers are students of Govt Polytechnic at Ambawadi, and the main accused, Virendra Macwana, is a pass-out from Jamnagar Polytechnic," JCP (Crime Branch) Mohan Jha told reporters on Tuesday.

After three days, the kidnappers shifted Yash from Gurukul to the house of Raju Macwana at Vivekanand Nagar in Hathijan. From October 25 to October 31, the kidnapers made 27 calls to Narendra to negotiate the ransom.

When Narendra finally agreed to arrange Rs25 lakh, the kidnappers asked him to board, Jammu-Tawi Express from Kalupur railway station and come to Viramgam with the money. However, Narendra's brother, Amrish, missed the train. So he reached Viramgam  in a private vehicle.

Crime branch officials accompanied Amrish. When they reached Viramgam, the kidnappers instructed him to board an intercity train from Viramgam and get down at Wankaner.

At Wankaner station, Amrish gave Rs25 lakh to the kidnappers. The police team accompanying Amrish then alerted other teams about the kidnappers (three men on an Activa without a number plate). When the police team tried to stop the Activa in question, the kidnappers smelt rat and tried to flee. The police team chased them for about 10 km from Chotila chaar-rasta to Chotila village, when at a point the kidnappers jumped off their Activa and ran into a cotton field.

This was 11.30pm on Monday. While two managed to escape in the field, one was nabbed. He was Virendra, the main accused. The two who escaped were Isak Thakore and Akash Modi.

When Virendra was questioned, he revealed that Yash had been hidden at Hathijan. On the basis of this information, crime branch ACP Mayur Chavda with his team reached Vivekanand Nagar and
rescued Yash at 2am on Tuesday.

There fourth accused Raju Macwan was arrested. Raju is the uncle of Virendra.

It was Virendra and Akash who had kidnapped Yash from SG Highway.