St Stephen’s girl rescued, boyfriend arrested for ransom call

A third-year student of St Stephen's College was kidnapped by her boyfriend and detained at a hotel in Paharganj for 16 hours, before police rescued her on Thursday.

Abhishek Deep (24) was arrested following the technical surveillance of his mobile phone, through which he had made a call to the girl's father to demand a ransom of Rs 1.5 crore, police said.

Her father, who works as a consultant at an iron ore firm in Bangalore, had informed police about the kidnapping and the ransom call on Wednesday night.

Police said Deep, a graduate from IP University, had booked two rooms at Hotel Ashoka in Paharganj, and had kept the girl locked in one of the rooms.

The girl, whose family returned from the US in 2009, was living in a paying guest accommodation on the North Campus.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Sindhu Pillai said during the investigation police found that the girl knew Deep and the last call from her cellphone was to him.

After police put Deep's cellphone on surveillance, they found the number to be active in Paharganj.

"Deep had called the girl to the Shastri Nagar Metro station on Wednesday. When they met, he took her to a hotel in Paharganj and forced her to get a room booked in her name. He switched off her phone and locked her in the hotel room. When she objected, he threatened to kill her father. Our team found the location and arrested him from the hotel," Pillai said.

During questioning, Deep reportedly told police that he needed money and had planned the kidnapping for ransom. He told police that he had taken Rs 12 lakh from his ex-girlfriend as well.

Police said Deep was unemployed, but led a lavish lifestyle. He was in a relationship with the girl since January.

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