Hathras: TV show-inspired men abduct senior citizen for ransom, UP cops bust plot in three hours

NOIDA: A 65-year-old woman in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras was kidnapped for ransom allegedly by three men who were inspired by a popular TV show but got arrested within three hours of registering the crime, police said on Tuesday.
The woman, a mother of a businessman, was abducted by the accused on Monday evening from a Bhagwat Katha venue after which the trio kept moving her around the district in a car, Hathras Superintendent of Police Vineet Jaiswal said.
“While going around in the car, the accused called up the businessman and sought Rs 80 lakh as ransom for her release. The family alerted the police and immediately three police teams were formed while special operation group (SOG) and surveillance teams were also roped in,” Jaiswal said.
“The teams went cracking immediately considering the sensitivity of the case. Raids were conducted and checks set up on the basis of technical and manual inputs because of which we were able to track the car within three hours,” he said.
All three accused were arrested from the spot and the elderly woman rescued safely, the district police chief said, adding that she went back home after a medical examination.
Those arrested have been identified as Saurabh Agarwal, a native of Aligarh, Rishi Sharma and Nitin Singh, both Hathras residents, said Jaiswal, who has announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for officials involved in the successful rescue operation.
According to police, Agarwal runs a kirana shop in Aligarh and wanted to make a lot of money quickly. "He also has a girlfriend because of which his expenditures cross his limits,” they said.
"Agarwal wanted to make a lot of money and buy a house for himself. He would watch 'Crime Patrol' (a dramatised TV show based on real life crime cases) and got the kidnapping idea from it. In order to implement the plan, he lured his two friends Sharma and Singh also, saying they could all make a lot of money in a short time,” the police said.
Agarwal had come to Hathras last week where he spotted the elderly woman going to the Bhagwat Katha and followed her. He also went to the venue where on some pretext, he introduced himself to the woman and also got to know about her background, the police said.
“On Monday, he again went to the place, and in a friendly manner told her that his mother wanted to meet her. He tricked her into going with him to meet his mother but abducted her in the car with the other accused waiting outside the venue,” it said.
An FIR has been lodged against the trio at Kotwali Nagar Hathras police station. Two illegal firearms along with some ammunition were seized from their possession and the car used in the crime has been impounded, the police said.