Mohali youth 'kidnapped' in Bali, let off after Rs 24L ransom

Tribune News Service

Gaurav Kanthwal

Mohali, January 4

The police have registered a case of kidnapping for ransom and extortion against unknown persons for demanding Rs 30 lakh to release a 22-year-old Ashutosh Rana of Behlolpur near here.

The victim’s family had sent their child after another relative reached the USA illegally via Indonesia and Mexico a week earlier. The victim arrived in Bali on September 29, after which his family started getting ransom calls.

The victim had informed the family on the phone that he and three other Punjabis (one from Chamkaur Sahib, another from Sanaur, Patiala, and the third one, a relative of the victim, from Mohali) had been kidnapped and locked in a room. The suspects, allegedly from Punjab origin, beat the youths and ripped off their nails from their fingers, his family claimed.

The family deposited Rs 24 lakh in a private bank account of Ludhiana. The money was reportedly withdrawn in Jalandhar.

The suspects reportedly reside in Indonesia and kidnap and extort money by luring students with dreams of living in foreign shores. They do not take advance money and assure them that the payment will be taken once the student reaches the US. Even the air ticket is sent by them so that they cannot be traced here, Rana’s family said.

“It has now come to light that seven more persons have been duped in the same manner. Their family members have approached senior police officials in Mohali,” said Manjeet Rana, sarpanch, Behlolpur, an uncle of one of the victims.

The police said the role of a Kharar resident, Jalandhar travel agents and some airport officials in Amritsar, is under the scanner.

The police said three youths had been let off after the payment and were on a flight back home.

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