17 years on, kidnap victim gives closing argument in own case — as lawyer

Cut to September 17 this year. Harsh, present 24, presented the astir hour-long closing statement successful his kidnapping lawsuit — not arsenic a victim, but arsenic a lawyer. Eight of the 14 accused successful the lawsuit person been awarded beingness imprisonment by the proceedings court.

Harsh says his regular beingness astatine the trial, which started successful 2015, led to his determination to go a lawyer. In 2022, helium got his instrumentality grade from an Agra-based college.

“With the court’s permission, I argued for 55 minutes during the last signifier of the lawsuit and adjacent responded to the objections raised by the defence counsel,” Harsh told The Indian Express.

Additional District Government Counsel Nahar Singh Tomar said the tribunal sentenced 8 of the dacoits to beingness imprisonment nether Sections 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 307 (attempt to murder) and 368 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code. Most of the 8 convicts beryllium to Rajasthan.

Four different accused were acquitted owed to deficiency of evidence, the counsel said, adding that 2 different accused died during the trial. Defence counsel Tejender Rajput said helium volition record an entreaty against the judgment.

After earning his instrumentality grade successful 2022, Harsh says helium started tracking his kidnapping lawsuit closely, including maintaining a elaborate record. “I attended each proceeding and adjacent started assisting the authorities counsel successful the case, including travelling to different states to find immoderate of the witnesses. I ensured that each witnesses appeared connected their scheduled dates. I tracked down retired constabulary unit and made definite they appeared successful tribunal to springiness their statements,” helium says.

“During the last hearing, erstwhile I presented my argument, I made it wide that excavation was a straightforward lawsuit of kidnapping for ransom. I provided a first-hand relationship of the kidnapping, including the elaborate roles of each dacoit involved,” says Harsh, adding that the verdict was “won aft galore hardships”.

Talking astir the contiguous aftermath of his abduction, Harsh says portion his begetter was rushed to a infirmary with a slug injury, his uncle informed the constabulary astir the kidnapping. Even arsenic the constabulary started a hunt cognition to hint the kidnappers, his household received a ransom telephone for Rs 55 lakh the time aft his abduction.

He says his kidnappers took him to the Chambal ravines, which tally done Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the constabulary identified and arrested 2 of the accused with the assistance of surveillance and inputs from section intelligence. Spooked by these arrests, the gang, with Harsh successful tow, started changing its hideouts much often implicit the adjacent 3 weeks.

“The dacoits took maine to respective locations on the borderline earlier moving maine to Madhya Pradesh. We would question astatine nighttime and enactment indoors during the day. Some of their wives besides travelled with us. We would locomotion astir 5 km regular to scope a caller hideout. Over the people of 3 weeks, I learnt the names and aliases of each pack member. They slapped maine conscionable erstwhile — erstwhile I insisted connected being sent home,” Harsh recounts.

While the pack was connected changeless move, the Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh Police intensified their hunt cognition aft receiving a tip-off that the dacoits were hiding successful Shivpuri territory of Madhya Pradesh. On March 6, 2007, portion attempting to determination Harsh from Shivpuri to different determination connected a motorcycle, 2 of the accused spotted a constabulary squad checking vehicles. Fearing arrest, they abandoned the lad connected the roadworthy and fled.

Harsh was rescued by the police, who took him to the presumption to implicit case-related formalities. On March 7, 2007, a time later, helium was reunited with his family. Between 2007 and 2008, each 14 accused linked to the lawsuit were arrested.

“A fewer dacoits were caught based connected the accusation I gave the constabulary aft my rescue. Since the woman of 1 of the dacoits was pregnant, the constabulary acceptable a trap astatine the hospital. When helium brought his woman successful for delivery, helium was arrested,” Harsh recalls.