Indore | Four youths, including two women, were arrested on Friday for allegedly kidnapping two children in Indore and demanding a ransom of Rs 15 lakh, a police official said.
The 11-year-old boys, who were lured out of a garden with the promise of pets, were rescued from a location 15 km away, he said.
The arrested persons have been identified as Vineet Prajapati (22), Radhika Prajapati (19), Lalit Sen (21), and Tanisha Sen (20). He said Vineet and Radhika are siblings, while Lalit and Tanisha are husband and wife.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Rajesh Vyas told PTI that the accused had been visiting a garden, where children played, under the jurisdiction of the Palasia police station for the past few days.
They befriended Naitik Sonkar and Samrat Jaydev by showing them pictures of pets such as dogs and cats on their mobile phones.
Vyas said, "A woman among the accused took the two boys with her late Thursday evening, promising them that her family was leaving the city and that she would give them her pets." He said the accused contacted the boys' families through WhatsApp and demanded a ransom of Rs 15 lakh for their safe release.
According to the DCP, the kidnappers threatened to kill the children if the money was not paid by 11 pm on Thursday.
After being alerted, police formed a 25-member team that launched an investigation by questioning local residents and examining CCTV footage of the area.
Based on clues gathered during the probe, the two children were safely rescued from a flat in a multi-story building in the Rajendra Nagar area, about 15 kilometres from the scene, the official said.
"The four accused have no prior criminal record. They kidnapped the children to obtain easy money," said Vyas.
The DCP said that Radhika and Tanisha work for an e-commerce company, while Lalit is a driver.
He said Vineet used to work in investment-related work in the stock market and has been unemployed for the last six months
