Software engineer rescued, kidnappers arrested

Police have rescued a software engineer, who was kidnapped from Raj Nagar Extension area about a week ago, from a village in Ghaziabad, a senior police official said today.

Rajeev Kumar, who works with a leading IT services firm, was kidnapped on the night of May 23, when he was waiting to board a bus for Haridwar. His kidnappers had demanded Rs 15 lakh as ransom, Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna said.

Following a tip-off and electronic surveillance, police and STF officials laid a cordon in Raj Nagar Extension area where the suspected kidnappers were believed to have gathered.

Finding themselves cornered, the kidnappers opened fire on the police team. During the encounter, two kidnappers and two police constables sustained bullet injuries.

Three kidnappers have been arrested, Krishna said.

They have been identified as Mahesh Mishra, Sharad Sharma and Rinku. They lived in Indirapuram, the SSP said.

After interrogation, they confessed that they had abducted Kumar and demanded a ransom of Rs 15 lakh.

On May 24, a day after Kumar was kidnapped, they had sent a message to Kumar's wife from his phone to arrange the ransom.

Describing the modus operandi of the kidnappers, Krishna said they used to abduct upper-middle-class people to avoid attention of the authorities and police action.