Hyderabad: Kidnapped 7-year-old Meerpet boy rescued

Hyderabad: Inspired by movies and wanting to make some easy money, a Class 10 boy, kidnapped a seven-year-old boy, son of a techie, and demanded a ransom of Rs 3 lakh to release the boy. The Meerpet police of Rachakonda commissionerate rescued the victim and apprehended the juvenile on Monday.

The police are planning to send recommendations to the Juvenile Justice Board to treat the juvenile as an adult offender for committing a serious offence and try him in a regular court.

A routine Sunday for the family of G Raju, a resident of PSR Nagar in Meerpet, turned into a nightmare as seven-year-old Arjun went missing for three hours.

Raju works as a software engineer with a multinational company in Gachibowli. On Sunday, at around 2.30 pm, his son Arjun was playing near a swimming pool near his house with others from the neighbourhood.

Raju received a call from a stranger who asked him if he knew where his son was. Raju realised that Arjun was missing and started searching for him. He received another phone call shortly afterwards informing him that Arjun had been kidnapped and the family was not to go to the police if they wanted him back safely.

But a panic-stricken Raju and some neighbours rushed to the Meerpet police station and lodged a complaint. Acting on the directions of the police, Raju kept answering the calls of the kidnapper who demanded Rs 3 lakh for releasing his son. An online transfer of Rs 25,000 was negotiated, the remaining amount being paid by cheque.

By evening, the kidnapper had agreed to take the entire amount in cash at Almasguda. The police teams swung into action and apprehended the kidnapper, who turned out to be a juvenile, and rescued the boy, who had been secreted in the Sri Prasannanjaneya temple in Almasguda.

“At around 3.15 pm, I got the first call. Sometime later, he called again to inform me of the kidnap and that he would kill my son. The caller’s voice was high pitched. Every 30 minutes, the kidnapper called to enquire about the progress in arranging the money. He had convinced my son to act as if he was scared and made him talk to me twice, due to which I became more worried,” said Raju, describing the ordeal.

Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat said that the kidnapper, a Class X student from the Meerpet area is aged about 17. The investigation revealed that he had earlier stolen Rs 1 lakh in cash from his neighbour's house, but the matter had been worked out by the two families.

“The juvenile took the boy by offering him chocolates. They boarded a shared auto and reached Almasguda area where the victim was put up at a temple. The juvenile took the phone number of Raju from the victim and called from his phone,” the commissioner said.

Another police official said that the juvenile claims he was inspired by the movies which show kidnappings and wanted easy money to spend lavishly. “The juvenile comes from a poor financial background. His parents work at a tile manufacturing unit. He wanted to spend money lavishly and resorted to the offence,” said another police official, who was part of the probe. Police said as the juvenile is 17, recommendations wou-ld be sent to the Juvenile Justice Board to try him as an adult offender.