Two women among 3 held for Gzb doc's kidnap

GHAZIABAD: The Ghaziabad Police, along with the special operation group (SOG) of UP Police, have claimed to have solved the August 3 kidnapping of

one of the leading heart surgeons of the city, Dr K M Singh. Singh was released by his abductors on August 5 after ransom was allegedly paid. The kidnapping shocked the medical community in Ghaziabad, prompting the local IMA unit to go on a one-day strike last Tuesday. The arrested include Navneet, a resident of Sahibabad, and his kin a mother-daughter duo Nirmala (56) and Reena (28). Four other family members who allegedly took part in the crime are absconding. According to SSP Ghaziabad Akhil Kumar, the plan was primarily hatched by Navneet, a medical representative, and some of his family members who were aware of the doctor's social status and monthly income. "The plan of kidnapping the doctor was hatched by Navneet who works with a firm in Pitampura in Delhi. Navneet was lured into plotting the crime by his distant cousin Arun alias Pintu. Pintu asked Navneet to choose the target. Accordingly Navneet, who often visited the doctor on work, chose Singh. After 15 days of planning and surveillance, they decided to take the victim to Atta village near Meerut the residence of one Neeraj who is absconding with Pintu, Ajay and Shailendra, the other accused,'' said DSP (Ghaziabad) Rahul Srivastav. The accused followed the victim from his Patel Nagar clinic at Ghaziabad to the Pannalal Hospital on the night of August 3. They used country-made weapons to threaten him and push him into his own Honda City car. "They used the doctor's own phone to seek a Rs 1 crore ransom even as they were on their way to Meerut. The doctor's family agreed to pay a ransom of Rs 55 lakh and it was paid at Rohta Road near Meerut town. The accused released the doctor on August 5, the day the money changed hands. We got information from our sources about Navneet and after several days of surveillance, we arrested him. Based on his interrogation, we raided Pintu's residence at Dwarka, but he had escaped. We arrested his sister and mother, Nirmala and Reema who knew about the crime and was handling the ransom money. In all, we recovered Rs 16.70 lakh from the three accused. Pintu had the the highest portion of money and his arrest is vital for the case,'' added Srivastav. The police, though maintained that the they came to know about the incident only on August 7 when a missing case was registered at the Sihani Gate police station. The family allegedly did not inform police about the ransom payment too. "However, we will arrest all culprits soon,'' said Kumar.