Ghaziabad: It has all the ingredients of a blockbuster movie. Investigations into the abduction of Snapdeal employee Dipti Sarna showed the plot was stranger than a Bollywood potboiler and that main accused Devendra was inspired by the 1990s Shah Rukh Khan starrer ‘Darr’.
Devendra is a habitual offender with 20 cases against him, the first one lodged in 2001. He is a graduate and is well-read. His favourite books were Adolf Hitler's biography, Mein Kampf, which he read in jail, and the history of Genghis Khan's conquests. And he was deeply inspired by Darr, a romantic psychological thriller in which SRK played the stalker.
Devendra made an elaborate plan to abduct the girl and then win her love. According to SSP Ghaziabad Dharmendra Singh, several of his accomplices helped in the abduction, but none of them knew what he was up to.
Narrating the incident, the SSP said Devendra saw her for the first time a year ago, in January-February 2015, at the Rajiv Chowk metro station when she was with a male friend identified as “Mr A". He felt infatuated and allegedly started stalking her.
"He has an eccentric streak. He knew what she wore, what she ate, whom she met," the SSP said.
Here is the edited transcript of Dharmendra Singh’s press conference in which he gave details of the case
"The prime accused is a noted criminal in Sonipat. He allegedly said during the questioning that, "I have many cases against me, what if I have one more case lodged against me for loving someone."
"He tried to abduct her a few days times earlier as well. He recced the girl. He knew at what time she boarded the metro from Rajiv Chowk and how much time it took to reach Vaishali station. He used to wait at the metro station from where she boarded the auto home.
"To carry out his operation, he bought two autos. He told a few of his aides that he was planning to abduct a girl, who dealt in hawala money and carries the keys to her room in her purse. He told them if they pick her up, they will all get Rs 1 crore each and that she wouldn't go to the police because it is hawala money.
"His plans were foiled many times because Dipti made it a point to travel only in autos in which a female passenger was already present. On the day of the incident too, she did the same. Devendra followed Dipti and quickly hatched plans to get her on board his auto.
"Near Sahibabad traffic signal, he dropped spikes ahead of her auto and managed to puncture its tyre. His accomplice Mohit was following in a Maruti Swift close behind, the plan being that if anything went wrong they could use the car to flee. Dipti's auto stopped on the flyover. But Mohit's car which was following them ran over the same spikes and got a flat tyre as well.
"Devendra reached the stranded auto and offered to take the passengers. Without knowing their gameplan, the girl and another woman passenger got into his auto. Near Rajnagar Extension, the other girl was forced to get down at knife point. An eyewitness to confirmed he saw a woman get down from an auto and run away.
"The accused then overpowered Dipti, who at that point of time was talking to her father on the phone. Her muffler was wrapped around her face like a blindfold, a pistol was pressed to her temple, and she was told she would be killed if she screamed.
"Just 400 metres ahead, near Presidium school, the second auto too broke down. Fearing they would be caught, Devendra took her to an under-construction building nearby and hid her there. They smashed her pahone and hid her laptop bag. That area falls midway between two towers, which is why despite them not entering Nandigram village, there were signals from that tower. The phone is still untraceable, but the bag has been found.
"As soon as some villagers, who were in the vicinity of the building, left, Devendra drove ahead with the girl in his auto. When it ran out of CNG , he took shelter for a while near a tubewell and made a call to his brother Surender. He told Surender he was injured but did not reveal his actual plans. When his brother's i10 arrived, they got into it and drove off.
"All the while he kept trying to calm the girl saying she would not be harmed. The men told her they were asked by someone to pick her up. They stayed overnight at Khera Hatana village in Baghpat.
"When they tried to start again, the i10 got stuck in sand. Devender then moved ahead with the girl on foot. After walking for a long while she was tired and wanted to rest. He took care of her and gave her food to eat. Meanwhile, he asked his brother to bring a motorcycle for them to cross the area. He also tried to create a heroic image for himself, saying his motives were different and that he was in fact trying to save her. He also told her that her friend (Mr A) is a bad character and is into relationships with other girls.
"The next morning Devendra dropped her to the Sangla Kala station. He told her they should get married and move to Nepal and settle there. "Are you going after making a friend or an enemy?" he asked her.
"Inside the train, Dipti took a passenger's phone and called her parents. Based on her leads five people have been arrested. She identified the men immediately."
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