Anant Gupta returns after spending 5 days with his abductors

November 18, 2006

Anant Gupta who was kidnapped from the elite locality of Sector 14, Noida, India has returned home. He was kidnapped on November 13, 2006 and released by his abductors yesterday morning. The police have made an arrest in the city of New Delhi. The other two accused are absconding. The boy claimed that he was kept in a jungle and was treated nicely by the three men.

At a press conference the police claimed that they had identified the kidnappers within 10 hours of the kidnapping. Police said that the three year old Anant was kept at a house in New Delhi and later shifted to Mathura. The kidnappers had threatened the family with dire consequences if their demands were not met.

A day after insisting that no ransom was paid the police finally admitted that a sum of Rs. 5 million was paid to the criminals. The ransom amount was later recovered from the home of the accused.

In a fresh twist to the story, the grandfather of the boy told the media that it was an autorickshaw driver who brought his grandson home and not the police. The Uttar Pradesh police had claimed that the boy was rescued on Friday by the Special Task Force near the state border.

There were several raids conducted in the western regions of the state and several people were detained for questioning even though there are a few loose ends that need to be bridged.

This was one of the first instances of kidnapping cases involving an executive of high-profile software company in the recent times. Stories of abduction are common in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.