New Delhi [India], December 25 : The Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested the key accused in a 22-year-old kidnapping-for-ransom case involving a minor, officials said.
The accused, identified as Devender Malik, a Proclaimed Offender, was apprehended from a restaurant at Jubilee Hall Mall in Sector- 70 in Punjab's Mohali.
According to the police, in February 2002, Malik, along with two associates, Sunil Kumar and Narendra, kidnapped a minor boy from Village Majri in Delhi.
The 15-year-old boy had gone to his school in Village Nahri, Sonipat, Haryana, to collect his 10th-grade board admit card when he was abducted. The kidnappers later demanded a ransom of Rs 10 lakh, threatening to kill the boy if the amount was not paid, they said.
Following the ransom call, the boy's uncle, Om Prakash, filed a complaint, leading to the registration of a case.
The kidnappers contacted the family again, instructing them to deliver the ransom in Gohana, Sonipat, Haryana. The family, accompanied by the police, went to the designated location, but the culprits and the kidnapped boy could not be found. However, on the night of February 23, 2002, the kidnappers released the child, police said.
Two months later, one of the accused, Sunil Kumar, was arrested. The other two, Narendra and Devender Malik, were declared Proclaimed Offenders by the Tis Hazari Court, Delhi, on August 3, 2002.
While Malik has now been arrested, efforts are ongoing to apprehend the remaining accused, Narendra, police added.