Kidnapping At Gunpoint, Then 800-Km Drive: Faridabad Bank Manager Rescued

A bank manager, who was kidnapped at gunpoint Saturday from his Faridabad home to Himachal Pradesh's Bilaspur and then Mathura, has been rescued, thanks to swift action by Haryana police's crime branch. The investigation has revealed a chilling plan under which the kidnappers tied Satish up and drove with him for 800 km, first to Bilaspur and then Mathura. The plot was allegedly hatched by Satish's former tenant Bhupendra. The prime accused and his wife, who allegedly helped him, have been arrested and cops are now looking for another accused.

According to senior police officer Aman Yadav, Satish works as a bank manager in Delhi and is a resident of Sector 62 in Faridabad. His wife is a government employee. Bhupendra, who lived as a tenant in Satish's house till four months back, was out of work. He knew Satish's family was well-off and planned to kidnap him and demand ransom, said the police officer.

The plan was hatched by Bhupendra, his wife and Ravindra, his former colleague at a petrol pump, said police. Bhupendra and Ravindra recced the area near Satish's house for two-three days before the kidnapping. Having lived there, Bhupendra knew that the main door is not locked, even at night.

Late on Saturday night, he entered the house. Satish was with his wife and a friend. Bhupendra pointed a gun at them. When Satish's friend Amit tried to intervene, he hit him with a hammer, police said. Bhupendra took away the phones of Satish's wife and Amit. He also took Satish's car keys and wallet. On gunpoint, Satish was asked to get into his car and drive to Rohini. At Rohini, Ravindra joined Bhupendra. Satish's car was left there and the accused put him into a cab. His hands and feet were tied, mouth gagged and the rear seat partition used to hide him. The kidnappers refuelled the cab using Satish's credit card. The next stop was Himachal. Bhupendra's wife sat in the front to suggest that a family was in the car, police said.

Once in Himachal, the kidnappers made the ransom call and demanded Rs 50 lakh from Satish's family. By now, police had been informed and six teams had been formed to track down the kidnappers and rescue Satish. Officers of the crime branch were present during the telephonic negotiations. When the family said they cannot pay Rs 50 lakh, Bhupendra settled for 5 lakh. He asked them to transfer the amount to Satish's bank account. The family said they did not have the amount in their bank accounts, but can arrange cash. Bhupendra asked them to transfer 1 lakh to the account and arrange for the rest in cash.

Yesterday, Bhupendra reached Keli bypass to collect the cash from Satish's wife. Once she handed over the money, he got into the cab in which he had come. The crime branch team was waiting and he was arrested. On questioning, he revealed that Satish had been shifted to Mathura and Ravindra was with him. Once he found out that Bhupendra had been arrested, Ravindra fled the Mathura hideout and police rescued Satish. He had been hit on the face with the pistol.

Bhupendra has told police that he had no work for months now and needed money, and that led him to commit the crime. Police have recovered the cash Satish wife had handed over to Bhupendra, a pistol, a countrymade gun, bullets, and the car used in the crime. The search is on for co-accused Ravindra, who is on the run.