Six get 10-year RI in NRI kidnapping case in Chandigarh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 9

Over eight years after an NRI was kidnapped from Chandigarh before being rescued by the police from Kurukshetra after a gunfight, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has sentenced six convicts to 10-year rigorous imprisonment.

The convicts — Sukhdev, Sanjeev Kumar, Ajit Singh, Nitin, Anil Kumar and Pardeep Malik — were initially sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court in Chandigarh after being held guilty for kidnapping for ransom and other offences under Sections 364-A, 120-B, 395, 397, 342 and 411 of the IPC in September 2016.

Taking up their appeals, the Bench of Justice Jitendra Chauhan and Justice Archana Puri altered the offence of kidnapping for ransom under Section 364-A to kidnapping under Section 364 of the IPC.

“The demand for ransom does not stand proved and that being so, necessary ingredient vis-a-vis offence under Section 364-A of the IPC does not stand established... The abduction of victim Navneet Singh Chatha by the accused after having been put in danger of being murdered stands established. Thus, offence under Section 364 of the IPC is established,” the Bench asserted.

Referring to the testimonies of the complainant, the victim and the police officials, the Bench added it stood amply established that the accused had committed robbery of cash carried by the NRI in his car. The Bench added various articles belonging to the victim were also recovered from their possession.

The case has its genesis in a call received on April 10, 2012, from Gurneet Singh Chatha. Calling the police control room from Canada, he said his younger brother Navneet Singh Chatha had been kidnapped by some unknown persons and a ransom of Rs 1 crore had been demanded.

The police party visited their Sector 18 house where servant Amit Kumar’s statement was recorded. He said the victim had gone somewhere on April 9, but did not return till night. Around 2 am, he received a call from the victim asking him to handover the money lying in a cupboard to some persons he was sending.

During an operation carried out by a special investigation team at a village in Kurukshetra, one of the convicts fired at the police party from inside a room. The police too fired in retaliation before the kidnappers were apprehended and the victim rescued.

The Bench asserted phone connectivity between victim Navneet Singh Chatha and his servant Amit Kumar regarding ransom amount was not established.

Nothing was on record to show that the foreign number from which the police received the call belonged to Gurneet Singh Chatha. Though Amit Kumar claimed receiving a phone call on his mobile number apprising him of kidnapping, his call details did not reflect call from the said number.

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