IAF man, associates held for kidnapping bizman in Ghaziabad

A businessman, kidnapped from the Patel Nagar area here, was rescued by police from the clutches of his kidnappers, one of whom claimed himself to be an IAF personnel, an official said today.
The accused were arrested from Haridwar following an encounter yesterday, the official said.
Anil Arora was kidnapped on Thursday evening when he was returning home from his factory. A ransom call demanding Rs 2 crore was made to his family, police said.
The accused were identified as Mohsin, from Masuri town of Ghaziabad, Rashid, from Meerut, and Pradeep, from Jind.
Pradeep told police that he was working with the Indian Air Force and had a lot of debt which was the reason why the kidnap was planned, officials said.

The accused, one of whom was an acquaintance of Arora, would be brought here once the police gets their transit remand, Senior Superintendent of Police H N Singh said.

Arora said in his complaint that he was kidnapped at gunpoint, shoved in a car and sedated by the accused, he said.
Acting upon the ransom call details, four police teams reached Jawalapur town of Haridwar, tracked down the car using electronic surveillance and tried to intercept the vehicle on the Delhi-Haridwar highway, near Jawalapur, Singh added.
However, instead of giving up, the kidnappers drove into the city and were finally cordoned off by the police at about 5pm, he said, adding that the accused then opened fire on the police party, who returned fire.

Two of the accused sustained bullet injuries in their legs in the encounter, the SSP said.
There kidnappers targeted Arora as they saw him as a soft target and affluent enough to pay the ransom, the officer said, adding weapons and the vehicle used in the crime were recovered.