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Anant kidnapping mastermind nabbed

November 19, 2006 19:12 IST
In a major breakthrough, the Special Task Force and the Gautam Buddha Nagar Police today claim to have arrested prime accused in the Anant kidnapping case from Noida.

Police sources said in Lucknow that Chattarpal Singh was arrested this afternoon from a ''hide out.'' Pawan and Vijay Singh Chauhan, who runs a travel agency in Noida, are the other accused still at large.

Chattarpal Singh is the sibling of Jitendra, who was arrested soon after Anant appeared at his house under mysterious circumstances.

Both Jitendra and Chattarpal help their father run a Mother Dairy booth in sector 15 A of Noida, opposite the Guptas' house.

On Friday night, police had recovered Rs 50 lakh from a person arrested in connection with the kidnapping of the son of Adobe India's CEO.

The money was found in Belana village of Kakod in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahar district after police interrogated Jitendra, who allegedly kidnapped 3-year-old
Anant Gupta on Monday from outside his home.

After Anant returned home on Friday, his father Naresh Gupta told the press that a ransom demand of Rs 60 lakh had been made but he didn't pay the kidnappers.

Anant's uncle Lalit Gupta told a private news channel that the family told the STF that they were paying Rs 50 lakh to the kidnappers and were confident that the authorities would recover the money later.

Gupta said the family had only consulted the STF and perhaps the Noida police was not informed. Police said Anant was first kept in a place in Delhi and then taken to Mathura.

Police took custody of Anant in Kakori and according to a ''strategy,'' he was brought back home in an autorickshaw to Noida accompanied by a cop.
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