Engineer held for Alstom MD's kidnapping - Times of India

NOIDA: Akhand Pratap Singh has a degree in mechanical engineering and owns a garment store in Noida's upmarket sector 18. On Sunday, he became the latest entrant in Noida's rogues' gallery. The 28-year-old was arrested for masterminding the kidnapping of Alstom T&D India's managing director Rathin Basu. Basu was abducted on Friday evening and rescued the next morning from Meerut by the Uttar Pradesh police. A day later, cops say they have caught Singh, his driver Naresh, the driver's relative, Sanju, and a local car mechanic, Narender — all first-time offenders — for the crime. Police said Akhand Pratap was heavily in debt after taking a loan for investing in a commercial property venture in Gurgaon in August 2012 last year. "He had put in more than Rs 1 crore in buying a plot of land and developing it. But the venture did not find a buyer, leaving him with an unpaid loan of nearly Rs 50 lakh," said Preetender Singh, senior superintendent of police, Gautam Budh Nagar. "When the loaning party started putting pressure on him to return the money, Akhand Pratap hatched a plot to kidnap a rich individual to repay his debt," Singh said. Cops nabbed Akhand Pratap on Sunday afternoon from near the Sector 93 flyover on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway in Noida. "He has been sent to judicial custody along with co-accused Naresh, Sanju and Narender," the SSP said. Son of a retired Uttar Pradesh government official, Akhand Pratap has a B Tech degree from GNIT College in Greater Noida, police said. He owns a readymade garments store, Fossil, in Sector 18. The bungalow in Meerut's Pandav Nagar, where the accused had held the kidnapped victims — Basu and his driver, Ram Babu — also belongs to Akhand Pratap. His family lives in Silver City, sector 93, Noida. The plot was hatched in November 2012, police said. "A second-hand WagonR used to kidnap the victims was bought from Delhi especially for the crime. The gang did not have a specific target in mind and had planned to target a rich individual with an expensive car and working with a big company," Singh said. "Just two days before the crime, they conducted a recce and studied Basu's movements. They then worked out the details and went ahead with the abduction on Friday. They planned to demand a ransom of Rs 50 lakh but before they could do that, the first-time criminals were trapped and arrested," the SSP said. Police said that several teams have fanned out in search of two remaining accused, Avdesh and Rakesh, both relatives of Naresh. "We are conducting a detailed investigation to find out if any of the accused had any connection with Basu's company," the SSP said. via Top Stories - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFvm6t8FZBCahFRNrzy4MyTNXpqTA&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/Engineer-held-for-Alstom-MDs-kidnapping/articleshow/19027355.cms

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