New Delhi, Oct 24 (IANS) Delhi Police on Monday said they have arrested five persons for kidnapping a 23-year-old bridal artist and Bhojpuri actor from Uttar Pradesh.
The arrested kidnappers have been identified as Wasim, 32, a native of Hastsal in Uttar Pradesh, and Vinod, 31, Deepak, 28, Neeraj, 23, and Nasir, 21 -- all residents of Delhi.
They were arrested during a police raid in Hardoi district in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday night and Abhishek Khetrapal rescued from their clutches, police said.
Khetrapal had also acted as second lead role in Bhojpuri blockbuster "Chhabili" in 2012, police said.
Khetrapal, a resident of Janakpuri in west Delhi, was kidnapped dramatically at gun-point by the kidnappers from outside Radisson Blu hotel in Mahipalpur area where he was called by the kidnappers ostensibly for a bridal make-up assignment on October 20, police said.
"Khetrapal had sent a text message to his family hours before his kidnapping, which helped police bust the gang," Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP) Deependra Pathak said.
"Khetrapal's family immediately contacted Delhi Police and we formed a 15-man dedicated team to bust the gang," Pathak added.
He said the abductors had also made a first ransom call to Khetrapal's family for Rs 2 crore 22 hours after his kidnapping from Kanpur and the second call from Hardoi on October 23 using different SIM cards.
"Police identified the exact location of the kidnappers and arrested them in a raid on Sunday late night and rescued Khetrapal from their clutches," Pathak added.
The kidnappers told the interrogators that Wasim, who worked as helper in Khetrapal's family business of beauty parlour in Janakpuri, hatched the conspiracy of his kidnapping along with his friend Deepak and other associates. Wasim knew that Khetrapal was financially strong, police said.
