Scientist’s abduction: Fourth suspect nabbed; military intelligence team visits Noida
A team from military intelligence visited Noida on Tuesday in connection with the abduction and subsequent rescue of a junior scientist working for a top central government agency in Delhi.
The 45-year-old scientist, a resident of Sector 77, was allegedly abducted on Saturday evening after tried to visit a massage parlour that he had found online. He had told his wife that he was going out to run some errands but on reaching the address mentioned online, he lured to a hotel in Sector 41 where he was allegedly held hostage by a woman and two others.
“The victim had looked for a massage parlour online, and found the contact number for one in Noida. He came in touch with a man in this regard and the latter asked him to meet him at the City Centre. However, when the victim reached there, he was asked to follow the man to the hotel where he was kept hostage,” a police officer, on condition of anonymity, had said.
The wife later received a ₹10 lakh ransom call and after the family failed to arrange the money, they approached the police and a case of kidnapping for ransom was registered at the Sector 49 police station on Sunday.
The man was later rescued by police teams on Sunday night and three people, including the woman and the owner of the hotel where he was confined, were arrested for running on charges of kidnapping and extortion.
Two more accomplices were on the run and one of them, Saurabh Sharma, who is believed to be in his mid-20s, was arrested by the Noida police on Tuesday while a search is on for the fifth suspect, police said.
“He was arrested from his home in Barola village,” said deputy commissioner of police, zone 12, Rajesh S.
Police said Sharma was responsible for driving the victim from Noida City Centre to a hotel and the car which he had used, a red i10, was also recovered from him.
A senior police officer said a team from the military intelligence visited the Sector 49 police station on Tuesday morning to go through the documents of the case and also spoke with the victim. “This was a routine exercise for them due to the sensitive nature of the work the victim did,” said the officer, on condition of anonymity.