Adobe India CEO had paid kidnappers Rs 50 lakh

November 18, 2006 01:55 IST, rediff.com

After denying during the day that any ransom was paid to secure his three-year-old son's release, Adobe India's CEO Naresh Gupta on Friday night admitted that he paid Rs 50 lakh to the abductors.

"As a strategy, we decided that we should pay the ransom. The child would in the process come out and reach us," Gupta said.

"It was a matter of faith... because we were sure about recovering the money," he said.

Refusing to reveal where the deal with the abductors took place, Gupta said, "It was a minor risk we took. Either one takes risk with Rs 50 lakh or the child's life.

"It was easier because we knew everybody in the whole network and hence we were 100 per cent sure about recovering the money," Gupta added.

Anant's uncle Lalit Gupta said news of the ransom was not revealed so that the kidnappers were not alerted.

Noida Senior Superintendent of Police, R K S Rathode said late on Friday night that during the interrogation of Jitendra, the person arrested in connection with the high-profile abduction case, it was revealed that the ransom was at his residence.

Jitendra was arrested earlier in the day.

How police rescued 3-year-old Anant, son of Adobe India's CEO

November 17, 2006 20:34 IST

Last Updated: November 17, 2006 21:29 IST

The kidnapping of Adobe India CEO Naresh Gupta's son Anant was planned in the same locality of Noida where the family lived.

Briefing media persons on how Anant was rescued from the kidnappers, Meerut range Inspector General M B Singh said: "The kidnapping was carried out by four persons."

Singh said investigations into the kidnapping began with the interrogation of the security guard and the house maid.

"It was found that immediately after the kidnapping took place at 8:45 am, Kameshwar, the security guard posted at the house had received 4-5 calls from one number. It seemed the caller was curious to know about the developments in the case. We tracked down the number to one Chattrapal," he said.

He claimed that the police had identified the kidnappers with 8-10 hours of the kidnapping.

"Chattrapal, the main conspirator, worked in a milk vending outlet close to the Adobe CEO's residence. He was assisted by three others Jeetendra alias Babbloo, Vijay Chouhan, Pawan. All of them are residents of New Ashok Vihar locality of New Delhi," he added.

Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force Senior Superindent of Police S S Bhagat said the joint task force had received information that Anant was being moved from Pawan's house in New Ashok Nagar to his relative's house in Mathura.

"We moved in quickly on the information we got. We also knew that the kidnapping was not carried out by any hardcore criminal gang. We traced the kidnappers down at Mathura. On seeing us, the kidnappers made a hasty retreat on an auto. The child was rescued from the Kakod jungle on the Noida-Bulandshar border," he said.

However, police managed to nab Babbloo. The other three are absconding.

"Our first priority was to get the child safely back home. So, as part of a strategy, Anant was sent back home in an autorickshaw accompanied by a policeman.. The auto was followed by a police van," Bhagat said.

The officials rejected claims that any sort of ransom had been paid and added that intensive search was on to nab the other three kidnappers.

Adobe India CEO Naresh Gupta talks to media persons after his kidnapped son Anant (centre) was rescued on November 17. Police sources said Anant was rescued from the Noida-Bulandsahr border. Photograph: Sondeep Shankar/ Saab Pictures

Adobe India CEO's son rescued, kidnappers nabbed

Onkar Singh in New Delhi/ Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow, Rediff.com

November 17, 2006 13:26 IST
Last Updated: November 17, 2006 16:31 IST

Three-year-old Anant Gupta, who was kidnapped from his house in sector 15 A on Monday, has been rescued and kidnappers have been arrested. This was confirmed by SSP of Gautam Budh Nagar in his conversation with the newsmen who had been camping outside the sector 15 A.

Sleuths of the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force succeeded in recovering the child from his abductors , who had kept him in a hideout on the Noida-Bulandshahr border.

"The child is absolutely safe and we delivered him to his parents around noon today", a senior STF official told this scribe in New Delhi.

More details of the operation were held back by STF, whose spokesman said, "Since the operation is still on, we would not like to divulge any more details at this juncture."

Naresh Gupta, chief executive of US based multinational Abode India had appealed the kidnappers not to harm his child and take care of him. According to sources, ransom calls were received by the Gupta family.

As the news of his release spread, anxious relatives, neighbours, colleagues and a large number of mediapersons thronged the Gupta residence in posh Sector 15 here and joined the celebrations.

Along with family members, a cheerful looking Anant waved from the terrace of his imposing bungalow to the huge crowd of people gathered outside.

The boy, held by his mother, reached out for sweets that were being distributed to celebrate his home-coming. "Anant is playful, cheerful, active and is his usual self since he returned," a relieved Anant's father Naresh Gupta told reporters outside his residence.

The family also took the boy for a medical checkup. He is "fully healthy", Gupta, his father, said. "I was awake the whole night and when I was about to catch some sleep, I heard shouts from the house that Anant is back. I came down and saw him playing in the house. I have no idea how he was recovered," he said.

The boy was kidnapped by two motorcyclists while he was being escorted to the bus stop by maid servant Seema.

It is not clear whether the boy returned home after ransom was paid, or after police laid a trap and caught the kidnappers.

Police of Noida is holding a press briefing at 3 pm and would give the details then. The case had been handed over to the special task force of the Uttar Pradesh police for investigations.

Anant's parents, Adobe India's CEO get Rs 2-cr ransom calls

Sachin Parashar & Lalit Kumar

16 Nov, 2006, Times News Network

NEW DELHI: The men who kidnapped three-year-old Anant from his home on Monday have demanded Rs 2 crore as ransom from his parents.

A source involved in the investigation revealed to TOI on Wednesday that a ransom call was received at Anant's home just a few hours after he was kidnapped.

This was followed by at least two more calls. Sources said the first call was made from a PCO in Meerut. Five teams have been despatched to different places in western UP, MP and Bihar to trace Anant even as UP STF officers and Noida police remained tight-lipped about the ransom calls.

The police are now also coming round to the view that a professional gang executed the kidnapping. An eyewitness apparently saw two men handing over a child to a man in a white Maruti car near the DND flyway minutes after Anant was abducted.

This indicated a larger gang and a carefully planned abduction. While the two men left on the same bike, the car sped towards Nizamuddin bridge.

However, police have not ruled out the possibility that it may have turned right, towards the Indian Oil building crossing in Noida.

A source said about the ransom calls: "All were made by separate men. The first was received by a relative of the family in his house. The caller said the police should be kept out and demanded Rs 2 crore. He said the amount was not open to negotiation."

Anant was apparently not allowed to talk to the Guptas even once. A senior officer said the cops are having to tread cautiously as any false move could prove dangerous for the child.

Meanwhile, Adobe is said to have approached the US embassy. The embassy, when contacted, did not confirm that it had approached the Indian government but said it keeps in touch with American companies on all security matters.

Kidnap case: Adobe India MD receives ransom call

PTI, Nov, 14, 2006

Noida (UP): The family of three-year-old Anant Gupta, the son of CEO of Adobe Systems who was kidnapped, on Tuesday received a ransom call for his release from captivity.

Though police and the family would not go on record on this, sources said a telephone call was received at the Noida Sector-15 residence of the Guptas this morning demanding money for the release of the child.

It was not known how much money was demanded and no one knows about the captors of Anant, who was kidnapped in broad daylight by unidentified persons from outside his house on Monday.

Naresh Gupta, father of Anant who returned home from the United States early this morning, appealed to the media not to sensationalise the case so that no harm came to his son.

"The more you are covering the incident, it will cause more trouble for our child...my child's life is in danger," an emotional Gupta told reporters outside his residence.

"Please do not cover this issue anymore. We do not have any information about the child. The last time we saw him was at 8:50 am yesterday," Gupta, who is in charge of Adobe's operations in India, said.

Meanwhile, UP Special Task Force teams were dispatched to various places on the basis of clues provided by the maid servant and other domestic helps and security guards of the area.

Anant was abducted by two motorcycle-borne youths yesterday while he was waiting for his Lotus Valley school bus along with the family's maid servant outside his residence.