Kidnappers release Amritsar boy in UP

A schoolboy abducted 10 days ago in Amritsar, Punjab, has been released in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur town, a Punjab police release said on Friday.

Prabhbir Singh, 18-year-old son of an industrialist, was kidnapped from Majitha Road on February 8 as he was coming out of his tuition class.

The car in which he was kidnapped was found outside Saharanpur railway station.

Prabhbir is expected to reach Delhi on Friday night.

Sources said that while the boy's family had tried to negotiate with the kidnappers, the police zeroed in on them on Thursday evening. However, the family asked the cops not to take any action when the kidnappers agreed to release the boy.

It is not known if any ransom was paid.

The police release stated that the involvement of various gangs was being "actively probed".

The Punjab police was under scrutiny following a spate of kidnappings in the state in February. Three of these kidnappings ended in tragedy.

Sixteen-year-old schoolboy Abhi Verma was found dead within a few hours of being kidnapped in Hoshiarpur town, while four-year-old Amandeep was kidnapped and murdered in Goraya town. A middle-aged trader of Batala was also kidnapped and killed last week.