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Swift action by the Central Bureau of Investigation and timely help by Delhi Police's Special Branch led to the rescue of an Abu Dhabi-based consultant late Sunday night. Tikhat Siddique had been kidnapped by the Babloo Srivastava gang on March 11.
In the raid on the kidnappers hideout at Sarvpriya Vihar in South Delhi three kidnappers were killed and three were arrested.
Joint Direector, CBI, Neeraj Kumar, who supervised the operation, told rediff.com: "Siddique is from Calicut in Kerala and was on a bussiness trip to India. He was kidnapped by the Srivastva gang from Palam airport."
"On March 16, we came to know about the case from the Indian Ambassador in Abu Dhabi, who was approached by Siddique's family. The kidnappers had asked him to talk to his family about the ransom and he managed to pass on some clues about his whereabouts taking advantage of the fact that his kidnappers did not know Malayalam," Kumar said.
"The kidnappers were constantly asking him to talk to his family. We asked the family to ask him for certain clues, which he cleverly managed to pass on."
On the basis of what he said and their own investigations, the CBI raided a house in south Delhi, but it proved to be a misunderstanding.
Luckily the satellite phone the kidnappers were using to speak with Siddique's family in Abu Dhabi broke down and they had to take him to a public call office.
Her managed to pass on the telephone number to his family plus some more clues like a marriage in the neighbourhood and the shape of certain buildings.
That was enough for the CBI to find the right house. On Sunday evening CBI sleuths along with men from the special branch including DCP Ashok Chand and encounter specialist Rajbir Singh, raided the hideout. Sunil Nathani, Sanjay alias Chunky and Virendra Pant were killed in the encounter. Vipin Choudry, Kartik, a professional photographer who had joined the gang and Rakesh Saraya were arrested.
Santosh, one of the gangsters who had left for Bombay was arrested by the CBI at Bombay central station on Monday afternoon. He is being brought to Delhi while others were presented before the chief metropolitan magistrate in Delhi on Monday.
A smiling Siddique told rediff.com, "It seems like a new birth for me and I am thankful to the CBI and Delhi police for it."
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