This story is from January 23, 2021

Honeytrapped into captors’ lair, medico rescued in Greater Noida

A 21-year-old student of ayurvedic medicine and surgery, who was honeytrapped and kidnapped for ransom from outside his hostel in Gonda, 120km off Lucknow, was rescued by a UP crack police team on Friday after a brief encounter with three captors on the Greater Noida expressway, 40km from Delhi.
Honeytrapped into captors’ lair, medico rescued in Greater Noida
Gaurav Haldar
LUCKNOW: A 21-year-old student of ayurvedic medicine and surgery, who was honeytrapped and kidnapped for ransom from outside his hostel in Gonda, 120km off Lucknow, was rescued by a UP crack police team on Friday after a brief encounter with three captors on the Greater Noida expressway, 40km from Delhi.
The medico, Gaurav Haldar, was kept hostage for five days in the Noida apartment of the kingpin, Dr Abhishek Singh, after a 700km roller-coaster ride from Gonda.
A woman doctor and a key gang member, Preeti Mehra, who set up a date with Gaurav before luring him into the trap, is on the run. UP Special Task Force and Gonda police, which cracked the case, are yet to locate her whereabouts and are questioning the accused, who demanded Rs 70lakh ransom from Gaurav’s father, Nikhil.
The abduction was clinically planned with the accused opening three fronts to throw investigations into disarray. While the medico was kidnapped from Gonda, the first ransom call was made from a far-eastern UP district, Sant Kabir Nagar, and the youth was kept hostage in a house in Noida, said additional director general of police, STF, Amitabh Yash.
Second ransom call blew captor’s cover
However, their cover was blown off when the kingpin made a second ransom call, threatening to kill Gaurav if the Rs 70lakh ransom was not paid. UPSTF swiftly located the abductor’s location to NCR through phone surveillance, said the STF officer.
Besides mastermind Dr Abhishek Singh, two of his aides, Nitesh, Mohit, were arrested after their Sedan was intercepted on the Greater Noida expressway by STF after a brief exchange of fire. Police had asked Gaurav’s father, Hitesh, to request the captors to come to Lucknow for payment of ransom in exchange for Gaurav. Two other arrested gang members, Rohit and Satish, were later nabbed in Gonda.

“On January 18, Dr Mehra called Gaurav from a passer-by’s phone outside his Gonda hostel and then Dr Abhishek Singh with aides whisked him away, thrashed him in the car and injected him with sedatives. The first ransom call was made to Gaurav’s father, who works at a clinic in Bahraich, on January 19. After the second call was received, surveillance teams zeroed in on a location in Noida, said Amitabh Yash.
“The mastermind, Dr Abhishek Singh, is an ayurvedic doctor, while his aide Rohit hails from the Gaurav’s village and provided information on the youth. Gaurav’s number was shared with Dr Preeti Mehra, who was instructed to honey-trap him,” said the officer.
Additional chief secretary, home, Awanish Awasthi, announced a Rs 2lakh cash reward for the STF and Gonda police team, which carried out the rescue operation.
author
About the Author
Pathikrit Chakraborty

Highly responsive to unfolding developments. Reports on crime, and terrorism in UP and also probes by National Investigation Agency (NIA), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Uttar Pradesh.

End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA