Kanpur: Technician kidnapped, murdered; probe ordered into police's involvement
Already being slammed over extra-judicial killings, the Kanpur Police landed itself in yet another row after the family of a murdered lab technician claimed cops didn't make efforts to rescue him after he was kidnapped. In fact, the family alleges, police helped his abductors run away with Rs. 30 lakh ransom. A probe has been launched and eleven cops were suspended. Here's what happened.
Lab technician was kidnapped last month, family approached police
At the heart of this shocking story is the abduction of Sanjeet Yadav, a technician who worked at a private lab in Kanpur. He went missing on June 22, and a day later, a missing person's complaint was registered at Barra Police station. On June 26, the matter was turned into a kidnapping case. Three days later, the family received the first ransom call.
Family gave ransom for son, captors escaped in police's presence
As police made little headway in the matter, Yadav's family released a video on July 14, claiming that police let the captors run away with Rs. 30 lakh ransom. The family claimed they hurled the bag of cash on a road, in police's presence but the criminals got away, nevertheless. The next day, Yadav's sister Ruchi said the claims in the video were false.
As family awaited a reunion, they got heartbreaking news
Quickly, Ruchi released another clip saying her second statement was false and that a crime branch official forced her to declare no ransom was paid to the abductors. Yadav's family, which held on the hope for a month that their son would meet them soon, was shattered on Thursday when police said he is dead. Shockingly, he was killed just days after the kidnapping.
Police nabbed the suspects only after irreparable loss
The developments and the family's loss shed light on the police's "seriousness" in cracking a case. It was only after Yadav died that police swung to action with five suspects — Gyanendra, Kuldeep, Neelu, Ramji, and Preeti — being arrested on Thursday, Kuldeep and Ramji, said to be Yadav's friends, confessed the technician was murdered and that his body was dumped into Pandu River.
Kidnappers had killed him before even making first ransom call
Apparently, Kuldeep spiked Yadav's drinks to render him unconscious and eventually kidnap him. On June 26, the victim tried to escape and his captors killed him the next morning, said police. Reportedly, one accused is absconding, but the cops have seized three motorcycles and one car used for the crime. Separately, efforts were also launched to retrieve Yadav's body by deploying divers.
10 cops, including ASP and DSP, were suspended yesterday
Rushing to control the damage, the administration suspended 10 cops on Friday. ASP (Kanpur South) Aparna Gupta, Deputy SP Manoj Kumar Gupta, and eight other officers of the station were suspended. Last week, SHO Ranjit Rai was suspended after the family alleged laxity. Meanwhile, ADG, Police Headquarters, BP Jogdand will probe the allegations leveled against police, including the claim of ransom being paid.
All angles will be investigated: Senior cop
On the matter, Inspector General, Kanpur Range, Mohit Agarwal, said, "The family has been claiming ransom was paid to kidnappers, but no money exchange hands. We are probing the case from all angles."
