A 30-year-old man, who had kidnapped a child and taken the ransom via UPI on his mobile wallet, has been arrested by the Noida police who used his digital footprints to trace him, officials said on Monday.
The six-year-old boy who was kidnapped and taken to Gurugram has been recovered safely and reunited with his family, according to the police.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Noida) Anil Kumar Yadav said the boy was picked up from Naya Bans village, under Phase 2 police station limits, last week and an FIR was lodged under the Indian Penal Code section 364A (kidnapping for ransom) after the family approached them with a complaint.
The boy had gone missing on June 22 and was found sitting on a bench near the NSEZ metro station on June 23 after the kidnapper released him post a payment of Rs 30,000 by the child's family, police said.
The child's father runs a small eatery, they said.
”When the kidnapper called the father for ransom, the police used electronic surveillance and other manual inputs to trace the caller, who kept telling the father not to inform the police. Our first priority was ensuring the safety of the child,” Yadav said.
The money was taken in two instalments of Rs 20,000 and Rs 10,000 and withdrawn from a Jan Seva Kendra in Noida.
The officer highlighted that the caller had demanded payment through the PhonePe app and the police suggested to the family to go ahead with the payment so that the police could get a chance to trace the person behind the kidnapping.
He said once the payment was made, the police started continuous monitoring of the caller using electronic surveillance.
”Meanwhile, the day after the caller received Rs 20,000 in his mobile wallet, he came to Noida with the child. He then demanded Rs 10,000 more, which was paid to him through PhonePe. He then left the child near the NSEZ metro station and fled,” Yadav said.
Once the child was secured safely, the police teams stepped up their act and followed the kidnapper.
”On Sunday, he came to the Botanical Garden metro station and our teams who had kept a watch on him reached the spot in civil clothes and nabbed him. We had already procured a photograph of the kidnapper from the Jan Seva Kendra. One more thing that helped us confirm his identity was his t-shirt -- which has the word 'RESPECT' written on the front. It was the same t-shirt he wore earlier,” Yadav said.
The police later identified the kidnapper as Barun, a native of Hardoi district and current resident of Naya Bans village in Noida.
The accused has been found engaged in criminal activities since 2017 and has been allegedly involved in motorcycle thefts while a similar case of kidnapping was lodged against him in 2021 at the DLF Phase 3 police station in Gurugram, the police said.
The ransom amount of Rs 30,000 has been recovered from him and his mobile phone seized, the police said, adding the accused was produced before a local court and has been remanded in judicial custody.
