HCL engineer rescued by Ghaziabad Police from kidnappers after encounter

The Ghaziabad Police and Noida's Special Task Force rescued a 38-year-old software engineer on Friday, almost a week after he was abducted from Raj Nagar Extension. Police have arrested three men, two of whom received bullet injuries while two police constables were also injured during the brief encounter. 

Police have seized two illegal country-made pistols, a car, three ATMs and some cash from the possession of the accused.

According to the police, the accused have been identified as Sharad Sharma, Mahesh Mishra and Rinku.

"We had formed around 18 teams, including the STF, Ghaziabad Police and Crime Branch to pursue the rescue operation. We managed to trace the victim Rajiv Kumar Singh in Peera Garhi village of Indirapuram," said Vaibhav Krishna, Senior Superintendent of Police, Ghaziabad.

Police said that Singh was rescued from a dingy room in Prahlad Garhi village in Indirapuram area, where the kidnappers had tied him up. Rinku was arrested from the house.

"During interrogation, Rinku revealed that his other two aides had gone to withdraw money from an ATM in Mohan Nagar area. The two accused were intercepted by police, however, they tried to escape," said Krishna.

Later, the criminals opened fire on the cops in Raj Nagar Extension and in retaliatory firing, Sharma and Mishra were arrested after they sustained bullet injuries.

Police said that the victim was kept tied up and gagged in the room while kidnappers used his mobile and sent messages for ransom to his wife and family. He was given frequent doses of anesthesia.

Police said that Rajiv Kumar Singh, who works in HCL Noida, went missing on May 23, a day before his birthday. He was abducted from Raj Nagar extension area of Ghaziabad when he was waiting to board a bus to Haridwar after returning from his office.

After the kidnapping, the gang demanded a ransom money of Rs 15 lakh from his wife through a WhatsApp message, out of which the family deposited Rs 1 lakhs 40 thousand into Singh's account, as directed by the kidnappers. The accused had withdrawn the money from Singh's account after wearing masks.

SAVED BY THE BULLET

• Police said that the victim was kept tied up and gagged in the room while kidnappers used his mobile and sent messages for ransom to his wife and family 
   
• After kidnapping him, the gang demanded a ransom of Rs 15 lakh from his wife through a WhatsApp message