Five-year-old schoolboy, abducted on eve of Republic Day in Delhi, rescued after fierce gunbattle in Ghaziabad

The Delhi Police’s crime branch rescued a five-year-old boy in Ghaziabad on Tuesday following a fierce gunbattle with his kidnappers who had abducted him 12 days ago, media reports said. One of the kidnappers was shot dead while another was wounded after they opened fire on the police team,  Hindustan Times reported. While the investigation was still underway, the boy has been handed over to his parents, the report said. [caption id=“attachment_4208081” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] The kidnapping had taken place on 25 January, the day before Republic Day, when the ASEAN summit was taking place in New Delhi. On the morning of 25 January, two bike-borne assailants had attacked a school bus carrying 22 children, shot at the driver, and allegedly abducted one boy in New Delhi’s Dilshad Garden area. A report in The Indian Express said a ransom call was made for Rs 70 lakh two days after the kidnapping. “Police started scanning all CCTV footages and established that the kidnappers, before executing the incident, conducted a recce. Police have found several footages where they have seen the kidnappers and later with the help of technical surveillance, police started tracking their location,” the report quoted police sources as saying. Delhi Police sources were quoted by News18 as saying the abducted boy, identified as Rehan, was held captive on the fifth floor of the Shalimar City apartment building in Ghaziabad. Media organisations had refrained from reporting on the incident following a request by the Delhi Police, since the child’s safety was at stake, the report added.