Financial trail helps Pathankot cops arrest child’s abductors from Goa
For the last few days, the police persistently followed the financial transactions of the two suspects, who were involved in the abduction of a prominent Pathankot-based businessman’s son last week, before cops finally zeroed in on them and arrested them from Goa yesterday.
The case had acquired utmost significance for the police because it not only involved the son of a politically well-connected businessman, but also for the elaborate manner in which the abduction had been planned and executed. The incident had created a furore in the city.
On August 30, Maahir Bhandari, son of Badal Bhandari, was abducted by two persons when he just reached his home from school. The abductors had demanded Rs 2 crore ransom from Bhandari family for releasing their son. The suspects had fled towards Nurpur in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh (HP) with the child. Sensing that cops were hot on their trail, the suspects decided to leave Maahir at a secluded spot from where the police later recovered him.
The suspects cleverly created a replica in which car used in the crime was similar to a car parked in Chamba. The model, make, colour and registration number of the car used by suspects bore exact similarities to the Chamba-based car. It was an attempt to divert our attention. —An investigator
The Pathankot police and the HP police had worked in tandem to locate the whereabouts of the child. Sources say the police were under tremendous pressure to find Maahir. Once the police reunited the child with the family, their focus shifted on nabbing the suspects — Amit Rana, a suspended BSF constable, and Rishab, alias Sonu, a JCB operator.
SSP Daljinder Singh Dhillon confirmed that a team comprising Inspector Mandeep Salgotra, head constable Vishal Lakhotra and two others were given the task to track the suspects.
Dhillon said the suspects, in an attempt to pull the wool over investigators’eyes had purchased a car from Chandigarh for the purpose of committing the crime. “They cleverly created a replica in which the car used in the crime was similar to a car parked in Chamba (HP). The model, make, colour and registration number of the car used by the suspects bore exact similarities to the Chamba-based car. It was an attempt to divert our attention,” said an investigator.
After committing the crime, the suspects reached Goa by road via Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda and Mumbai.
The police followed the financial trail to track down the suspects. Some of their accomplices in Chandigarh and HP would deposit money into their accounts which was withdrawn by the kidnappers using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). “It allows users to transfer money directly from their bank accounts into any other bank account without needing bank details of the recipient,” said Dhillon.
Both Inspector Salgotra and constable Lakhotra were stationed at the Delhi airport. “We asked them to camp there till the exact place where abductors were camping became clear to us. Finally, on the evening of September 6, after a lot of patience and persistence, our team tracked them to a place falling in the jurisdiction of Cuncolim police station in Goa. The suspects were travelling in a bus. Our men, who were following the suspects in a car, forced the bus to stop. It was with the help of the Goa police that we managed to nab the kidnappers,” the SSP said.
Demanded Rs 2 crore ransom
On August 30, Maahir Bhandari, son of Badal Bhandari, was abducted by two persons when he just reached his home from school. The abductors demanded Rs 2 crore ransom from Bhandari family for releasing their son. The suspects fled towards Nurpur in Himachal Pradesh with the child.
