Ola Horror: Delhi Doctor kidnapped for Rs 5 crore ransom, rescued after a shootout
New Delhi: In what turned out to be a freakish ride for a 29 year Doctor in Delhi, a PG Medical student from Telangana was kidnapped by driver of a Ola cab in East Delhi. The kidnappers, had allegedly demanded a whooping Rs 5 crore from both the cab company OLA and later his family for his release. After 12 days of torture, the doctor was finally rescued by police authorities from Meerut recently.
The freak incident took place on Friday night around two weeks ago, when the doctor, Akkala Srikanth Goud who had gone for a dinner post his duty at a Preet Vihar Metro Hospital, booked an OLA cab to go back to his house. Nobody knew about his whereabouts since then.
The incident only came to light, when on Saturday 08/07/2017 morning, someone from the Ola management contacted the Preet Vihar Police Station around 4 am and told them that a passenger was kidnapped by the driver of their vehicle and that a demand for Rs 5 crore ransom was being made. The abductors apparently also told the cab aggregator, OLA, that the incident will tarnish the image of the company and they should pay the ransom if they wanted the matter to be kept under the wraps.
Soon after the call, one advocate, representing OLA management also visited Metro Hospital, in Preet Vihar, making enquiries about the doctor. The hospital also confirmed that the doctor did not turn up for duty. When his friends became further worried, the hospital contacted the Preet Vihar police.
Dr Akkala Srikanth Goud , a native of Gadwal in Telangana, completed his medical degree from Jiujiang University in China and got registered with the AP Medical Council in 2013. Having secured Medical Council of India's clearance, he settled down in Delhi some time back, working at Metro Hospital, Preet Vihar
The police were hoping to nab the cabbie by on 8th July itself, could not reach the spot, as he was been constantly moving. “The location of kidnapper is not stationary and he is on the move constantly. We have good leads and are working on them,” said ACP Singh had informed MD team at that time. The cops also found that the documents provided by the cabbie to Ola were fake.
Meanwhile, more horror for his family unfolded as it received videos from the kidnappers showed the 29-year-old chained to a chair, tortured and begging for water reports HT
Police teams of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh's Special Task Force then tracked down the four members of the gang at Haridwar and Meerut over the last few days but they had managed to run away. On Wednesday, they were again traced to a village in Meerut by the police. A total of four kidnappers including the cab driver were arrested after a shootout that injured one of them. The police received information that the doctor was being held at an under-construction building in Meerut. On receiving the tip,they swung into action, surrounded the locality where the doctor was being held captive and rescued him after a brief gunfight.
According to TOI, two of the kidnappers are siblings and both had earlier worked with Ola. They were miffed with Ola due to alleged non-payment of incentives. Police further told HT that while it appears that Dr Goud was fed, they are not certain if he was kept in harsh conditions. “He appeared weak and in a state of shock when he was rescued. He has now been asked to take rest and will also be given counselling,”
