Punjab: ‘Wrong teen’ kidnapped, whipped, ransom-reeled; one held, 8 on run

LUDHIANA: A 15-year-old local boy buying kites in his neighbourhood was kidnapped, stripped, and tortured by a gang who broadcast the assault to his parents in a ransom demand before realising they had abducted the wrong person.Punjab Police have arrested one of the accused and are hunting eight others after the teenager was snatched from the street while walking to a local shop to buy kites in the Fauji Colony area of Ludhiana. The investigators have claimed that the boy was intercepted by a group of nine men travelling on three motorcycles. He was taken to a property near Atam Park, where he was stripped before being thrashed with leather belts and rubber pipes.The attackers recorded the assault and placed a video call to the boy's father, Krishna Kumar, demanding a ransom of Rs 20,000. During the call, the kidnappers allegedly brandished a pistol to intimidate the family.A Case of Mistaken IdentityIn a bizarre turn, the captors eventually released the boy near RK Road railway crossing after realising he was not their intended target. "The accused wanted to kidnap another youngster from the locality whom they believed to be involved in drug peddling," Krishna Kumar told local media. "They mistakenly kidnapped my son instead."Police Response and ArrestsMoti Nagar police arrested main suspect Bindu and seized a country-made pistol with 13 live cartridges. Four named accomplices — Shivam, Sunny, Naveen — and five others remain on the run.Assistant commissioner of police Inderjit Singh Boparai characterised the group as "petty criminals" who were attempting to re-establish dominance in the neighborhood following a fatal gang clash several months ago. "The accused wanted to exert their influence in the area again," ACP Boparai said. "They kidnapped and thrashed a teenaged boy to instill fear among the locals so that the public would not oppose their criminal activities."Police have confirmed that the main accused, Bindu, was previously known to the family of the boy who was kidnapped. Authorities are conducting raids across the region to apprehend the remaining eight suspects. Police filed charges under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 115(2) for voluntarily causing hurt, 126(2) for wrongful restraint, 351(2) for criminal intimidation, and 190 for unlawful assembly offenses, plus Arms Act Section 25.