Seven get life term for abducting bizman’s son

In a significant verdict, the Court of Additional Sessions Judge Harbans Singh Lekhi has sentenced seven individuals to rigorous life imprisonment in connection with the kidnapping of Munish Brara, son of a local industrialist residing at Sarabha Nagar, here.

GPS device helped trace accused

A breakthrough in the case came when the police, in a covert operation, installed a GPS device in one of the ransom bags. Despite kidnappers’ attempts to outsmart the police, the latter traced their location to HP and recovered ~4.61 crore from a Maruti Alto car.

Gurarpan Chauhan, a resident of Gill Road, Deepali Bassi of New Lajpat Nagar, Pakhowal Road, Sonu Chaurasia, Sahil Chandel, Tony, Himmat Singh and Amit Kumar, residents of Ambedkar Nagar, Ludhiana, got the life sentence.

The convicts were ordered to pay a fine of Rs 30,000 each. The court has ordered that Rs 2 lakh would be paid to the victim as compensation.

The case dates back to July 13, when Munish and his driver Hem Raj were kidnapped from the Doraha highway by six individuals, posing as police officers. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 5 crore. On the next day, the father of Munish, Harminder Pal, paid the ransom in a Dugri area.

The kidnappers, led by Gurarpan and his associate Deepali, had meticulously planned the crime in over two months. Deepali, a fashion designer by profession, who was stated to have looking for a matrimonial alliance with Munish’s elder brother, played a key role in hatching the conspiracy. She reportedly wanted to take revenge for the failure of her engagement with the victim’s elder brother due to his family reservations.

After intercepting Munish’s car, the accused planted a package of opium in the vehicle, handcuffed him and his driver and took them to a farmhouse in Khanna, where they were held hostage.

A breakthrough in the case came when the police, in a covert operation, installed a GPS device in one of the ransom bags. Despite kidnappers’ attempts to outsmart the police, the latter traced their location to Himachal and recovered Rs 4.61 crore from a Maruti Alto car.

The court found the accused guilty of abduction, extortion, and illegal possession of arms and narcotics. Along with the ransom, the police seized firearms, opium, police uniform and other materials used in the crime.

Two accused, Dharma and Sarabjit, had expired during the trial. Whereas, the court has acquitted four persons, Amandeep Singh, Balaji, Parminder Singh and Gopal Krishan, finding no convincing evidence against them. They were accused of selling police uniform and toy guns, which were also used by the accused along with original arms.

The conviction brings closure to the high-profile case, which had shocked the city due to the involvement of a family acquaintance of the victim in the kidnapping plot.