Three youths, who had allegedly kidnapped a five-year-old son of a local businessman in March and later released him after they developed cold feet, were arrested after they unsuccessfully tried to extort ransom from the family for the second time, police said today.
Devkant Dwivedi (27), Sanjay Kumar Khare (27) and Krishna Kumar Suryawanshi (26) were apprehended yesterday in connection with the case, Bilaspur SP B N Meena told reporters.
The prime accused, Devkant is a nephew of Krishna Kumar Pandey who works as an accountant in the saw mill of victim Shlok's father Hariprasad Agrahari, he said.
Shlok, a native of Devri Khurd region, went missing from a shopping mall here on March 30, 2014, while his family was dining at a restaurant there.
However, the abductors later freed Shlok on April 1 after learning that police were on their trail.
After not finding Shlok, his family members informed the police.
Meanwhile, the kidnappers called up Shlok's parents and sought a ransom of Rs 10 lakh for his release, the SP said, adding that police teams were fanned out in several parts of the city to trace the kidnappers.
He said that the kidnappers left the child near Sarkanda police station on April 1 without taking any ransom.
However, the accused again called up Shlok's father on May 30 and threatened to harm his son if the amount was not paid to them.
The accused called up twice earlier this week and the calls were recorded by police.
On a tip off, Devkant was picked up from his native place Semartaal in Bilaspur, Meena said.
"During interrogation, he admitted to committing the crime and spilled the beans on the involvement of others, following which they too were arrested," he added.
