Click to play videoNew Delhi: For four days, the sensational kidnapping of Adobe India CEO’s three-year-old son Anant Gupta hogged headlines and captured the imagination of an entire nation.
Anant, who was abducted from his affluent Noida neighbourhood on Monday, was finally reunited with his parents after the western UP police swung into swift action and UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav surprisingly reassured the family of Anant’s safety.
Though the rescue act brought in much jubilation for the Gupta family – it was Naresh Gupta’s wife Nidhi’s birthday on Friday – the police line of investigation revealed to the media has thrown up more questions than answers.
Police say Anant was rescued by the Special Task Force near the UP border - between Noida and Bulandshahr. The STF claims they were instrumental in rescuing the child.
Anant was brought home earlier on Friday in an auto rickshaw. The police insist it was a part of their strategy and a policeman accompanied the little boy in that auto rickshaw.
They also claim one person, Jitendra, has been arrested in connection with the kidnapping. Three others - Chatrapal, Vijay and Pawan - are absconding. Jitendra is the son of a milk booth owner situated near Anant's house.
The police claim that none of the kidnappers are hard core criminals.
Special Task Force SSP, S K Bhagat addressed a press conference on Friday evening and said, "After Anant was kidnapped, he was kept at one of the kidnapper's (Pawan) house in Ashok Nagar. Later, we tracked the kidnappers down in Mathura. When our team reached Mathura, these men had left from there. Why the kidnappers took the route that they did will be known only after we catch the rest of the men. Then we found Anant in the Kakod area. We are hoping to arrest the rest of the kidnappers by Friday night."
But how did Anant come back to his Sector 15 home? Where was he kept all this while? These were some of the key points of discussion on CNN-IBN show India 360 with Bhupendra Chaubey.
On the panel were CNN-IBN Metro Editor Vinay Tiwari and CNN-IBN correspondent Shiv Pujan Jha – who gave a status check on the case and an insight into the glaring loopholes – and psychologist Aruna Broota and Principal of Lotus Valley School Madhu Chandra – who recommended some post-trauma care for the Guptas.
Why an auto?
But why was Anant brought back in an auto from Kakod? This is especially strange since no autos ply in Kakod.
According to CNN-IBN Metro Editor Vinay Tiwari this is the most incredulous of all the explanations that the police have given. Tiwari says the fact is that even in Noida it is difficult to find an auto and that to find one Kakod, Bulandshahar and that it came all the way to Delhi is almost impossible to believe.
The auto seen in the footage is a CNG vehicle, which makes the proposition of Anant being moved around in an auto even more unbelievable.
The most incredulous part of police theory, Tiwari said, was their claim that their own car was following the auto. The police seemed to have tied themselves up in knots and have made the whole thing seem more confusing than ever.
According to CNN-IBN correspondent Shiv Pujan Jha – who was present at the press conference that was addressed by the IG of Meerut as well as the Special Task Force SSP - neither IG Meerut nor the SSP Special Task Force answered specific questions.
“They said that they tracked these four kidnappers based on electronic surveillance, once the security guard Kameshwar - who was posted right outside the Gupta residence - said that he had received calls and all the calls were traced to approximately two dozen separate cell phones. These numbers were all put under surveillance. The police are claiming that they are still in the nascent stage of this investigation,” Jha said.
Was Anant actually ‘rescued’?
The second unanswered question is that was Anant actually rescued by the police or was he handed over to the police by the kidnappers? Is the police creating a tale to keep this information away from the press?
Tiwari said the biggest problem was that the police never really come out with a theory in kidnapping cases and that is why the confidence in the police is so low.
“Obviously there is more to it and that is what the police does not want to admit. It was not really a true rescue and that sadly is a fact which will never come out in the open, but is always going to be speculated upon. The police is trying to hide this fact but in doing so, they have come up with a story that is even more bizarre,” Tiwari said.
How much money exchanged hands?
Naresh Gupta has confirmed that there was a demand of Rs 60 lakh was made as ransom. In a late night update, police also recovered Rs 50 lakh from one of the arrested men.
So how much money actually exchanged hands? And what were those bags that were being taken out from Gupta residence early on Thursday morning?
While Naresh Gupta admitted that he paid Rs 50 lakh to the kidnappers, he said the bags that were shown being taken out of his house by several newspapers were in fact surveillance material - laptops and other electronic equipment - of the police.
“No one can prove whether the ransom has been paid or not. There have been many cases where kidnappings have happened and the so called rescues have happened only after the money has exchanged hands. So there is enough reason now for people to speculate in this case,” Tiwari said.
Why did Mulayam Singh step in?
Two days ago, UP Chief Minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav had gone on record saying that he had "vital clues" that Anant was absolutely safe and sound. Why would a state chief minister be getting into this?
That one statement by the Chief Minister set off a frenzy of speculation as chief ministers do not usually come out in the open and say that this is going to happen in a kidnapping case.
“That is really where the first suspicion started off that there is more to it than what meets the eye and there is obviously some sort of a backhand operation or some kind of a deal that is going on with the kidnappers,” explained Tiwari.
What's the status of the case as of now?
Shiv Pujan Jha says the police are maintaining that three more people are to be arrested and only after they are arrested and interrogated will the real story come out in the open.
How can the family deal with trauma?
The good news is that Anant is back and will be getting back to his normal routine soon enough. But what kind of an impact would something like this happen on a three-year-old for the rest of his life?
“There was a lot of hush hush in the investigations. I as a psychologist feel that the child should be allowed to express himself with a psychologist, so that he can let out whatever is inside of him. How did he feel when he was being whisked away? What happened to him? Because if he doesn't get that out it will somewhere stay in hs unconcious self even if he forgets it after some time - and we don't know right now whether he will forget this or not. Memories are reconstructed when parents are reinforcing facts and when they keep talking about the incident, the child will reliving with another construction,” Broota said.
The Principal of Lotus Valley School, Madhu Chandra, says Anant looked happy and normal when she visited them
“When I went to the Guptas' house and I saw Anant, he was running around the place and he looked very normal, healthy and happy. Maybe in such cases, the kidnappers look after the child well and they pamper him with all the things that children like. About school, I think he is way too young. He just turned three in August and he is probaly young enough to put this whole thing behind him. At school, there are enough activities to divert his attention and if the right environment is created, then he can just forget everything,” she said.
However, Broota was of the opinion that the Gupta family should go through a counselling session to help the child forget the incident.
“The family needs to be counselled on how they need to behave with the child and how to be together at home and what to talk to him about. I would never agree to let a three-year-old go through that. However, I would say that in the presence of a policeman who promises to sit silently and not question the child, Anant could be spoken to by a psychologist and not once but at least 20 times,” Broota said.
However, Chandra disagreed. “No I do not agree with that. However, maybe he could be spoken to in the presence of someone he knows and trusts like his mother, or his class teacher.”
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