Patna, Jan. 17: A teenager’s plan to squeeze out Rs 5 lakh from his father was foiled by the Government Railway Police (GRP) today. Raj Kamal alias Raja called his father for ransom, concocting a story of his own kidnapping. But the money never came.
The case came to light when Gurdeep, Raja’s uncle, complained to GRP that his nephew had been kidnapped from Patna Junction. Raja was traced to Buxar, from where the GRP took him into custody. Instead of being richer by Rs 5 lakh, the 18-year-old now finds himself behind bars.
Patna GRP inspector Ramakant Prasad said: “Around 9pm last night a man named Gurdeep came to the GRP office and said his nephew has been kidnapped from Patna Junction while he was travelling with seven of his friends. He said a kidnapper called his brother and asked for a ransom of Rs 5 lakh. It was the boy who had called up his father, Suresh Pandey. He was in Araria and asked Gurdeep to complain to the GRP.”
Ramakant said: “Initially I was surprised to learn about the incident. He was travelling on Okha-Guwahati Express in S-3 coach, which stops just in front of the Railway Police Force (RPF) office. It is not possible for anyone to kidnap a boy from there. It was then that I asked for the mobile number from which Raja’s father received the call.”
The inspector said he kept calling up the number the whole night, but the phone was busy.
“This morning, I dialled the number again. Raja took the call. When I asked him about the abduction, he said ‘When the train I was travelling in reached Patna Junction, I went to the washroom and when I came out some people covered my face with a cloth. I lost consciousness. When I came back to my senses, I found myself at an isolated place,’” Ramakant said.
“When I asked him about his location, he said he was locked in a dark room, and had no clue where he was. He told me that his abductor had asked him to call up his father, and ask for a ransom of Rs 5 lakh or he would be killed,” he said.
Ramakant said: “He told me that the kidnappers had asked him to tell his father to deposit the money in his account. This shocked me. Then I asked him to wait for my call.”
He said the GRP took the help of the surveillance team to trace the location from where the call was made.
“After some time the surveillance team informed me that the call has been traced to Buxar district. I asked Buxar GRP inspector Ravi Kumar to trace the boy. After a couple of hours, Raja was traced in one Ganga Lodge in Gajadhar Ganj near Station Road.”
Manager of the lodge Satyendra Kumar told The Telegraph over phone: “A boy came to my lodge last night and said he has missed his train and wants to stay for a night. He had identified himself as Mithilesh Kumar.”
Raja had got down from the Okha-Guwahati Express at Patna Junction at 12noon yesterday. He took a passenger train and reached Buxar.
Patna GRP has filed a case against the boy under Section 182, 211 of the Indian Penal Code.
