Police said the accused had no previous criminal involvement and that the rescued boy had been reunited with his family.
NEW DELHI: A Rs 5,000 UPI transfer that served as a digital trail, the cooperation of a cybercafe owner and a trap laid in a narrow lane in Karawal Nagar helped Delhi Police rescue a 13-year-old boy and arrest his kidnapper within three hours of his mother reporting his disappearance. Police arrested him within three hours of receiving information, when he returned to collect the ransom after the Rs 5,000 UPI transfer at a cybercafe in Karawal Nagar, a police officer said on Sunday. The incident came to light on October 30, when a woman approached Jyoti Nagar police station in Shahdara and reported that her son had gone out to buy some items but had not returned. He sent her a barcode, following which police transferred Rs 5,000 using the account of a police personnel to trace the transaction.
During interrogation, Akash told police that he worked as a delivery helper in Sadar Bazar and knew the victim through his cousin. He had allegedly lured the boy onto his scooter before calling his mother to demand ransom, police said. Police said the accused had no previous criminal involvement and that the rescued boy had been reunited with his family.
During the investigation, the kidnapper contacted the woman again and insisted that the ransom be paid through UPI. Police then examined the cybercafe’s CCTV footage, which the woman used to identify her missing son.