Two Australians among three held for kidnap plot (Second lead)

CHANDIGARH - Two Australians are among three people arrested here Friday for plotting to kidnap a youth for ransom and for possessing contraband and arms, police said.

According to a police officer, the accused were identified as Grant Alanestein, 44, Simon Galti, 44 (both Australians) and Gursher Singh, 39, a resident of Punjab’s Ropar town, around 45 km from here.

“Following a tip-off, police laid a trap here in Sector 35 and arrested the three accused. Gursher came in contact with Simon and Grant during his stay in Australia. He had gone there on a student visa,” Inspector General of Police (Chandigarh) Pradeep Kumar Srivastava told reporters here Friday.

“They had planned to abduct a youth named Harsh, who lived in Ropar and is an acquaintance of Gursher. They were planning to demand ransom of Rs.1 crore from Harsh’s family and had plans to enter into the drugs business with that money,” Srivastava said.

It was revealed during the investigations that all the three accused had earlier come to India in May this year and went back in the first week of July. During their visit, they surveyed various parts of Chandigarh and its surrounding areas. This time, they had come to India Aug 15 and had also stayed in Malaysia for two days before coming here.

“According to their plan, the ransom amount was to be transferred to the Australian business account of Grant, which he had opened Aug 6. After reaching India, Gursher had asked his cousin Bhupinder Singh to arrange some people who could abduct Harsh for him,” Srivastava said.

“Gursher had also met two people, named Raju and Nihang, who had promised to help him in abducting Harsh. He had finalised a deal for over Rs.10 lakh with them,” he added.

Police also recovered 20 grams charas (hashish), three air pistols, two knives and one Gypsy vehicle from the accused.

They were booked under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Arms Act, and for abducting in order to murder.

“We were following their activities for the last few days. We suspect that they have links with other drug peddlers of the region,” an official of the crime branch here said.

Harsh was a college friend of Gursher. He told police that he had received a call from Gursher, who expressed his desire to meet him.

The accused were presented in a local court from where they were remanded to three-day police custody.