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Kidnappers Wanted To Celebrate Delhi Doctor's Birthday With Alcohol, Dance And A Gift

Birthday from hell.
Image used for representational purpose.
sasun1990 via Getty Images
Image used for representational purpose.

The story of Delhi-based Dr Srikanth Goud's kidnapping seems to be getting stranger by the day, as more details of his 13-day ordeal emerge.

A day after his dramatic rescue due to the combined efforts of 25 Delhi Police teams that worked tirelessly on his case, the 29-year-old traumatised doctor made some startling revelations about his time in captivity. The most eyebrow-raising among them being how his abductors insisted on celebrating his birthday, four days after they kidnapped him, and even gifted him a pair of sunglasses.

According to a report in Millenium Post, on the day of his birthday, four of the nine kidnappers barged into the room Dr Goud was being held and offered to celebrate his birthday with alcohol and dancing. When the surprised doctor refused, they gifted him a pair of black sunglasses — a 'souvenir' the doctor is still holding on to, and has shown to his relieved relatives, the report said.

The doctor has no recollection of what transpired between July 10 and 19, since he rarely spoke and spent most of his time sleeping or lying down, blindfolded.

This strangely generous gesture seems odd, given the treatment otherwise meted out to the doctor. According to a Times of India report, the victim travelled with the kidnappers for over 500km and was kept constantly blindfolded and tied up in rooms in six different locations. So much so, that the doctor has no recollection of what transpired between July 10 and 19, since he rarely spoke to the kidnappers and spent most of his time either sleeping or lying down, blindfolded.

While on the one hand, the kidnappers allegedly drugged and beat Dr Goud, instilled fear in him by claiming to be Al Qaeda operatives and making superficial cuts on his wrists to warn his family and the police that they could kill him at any time; on the other hand, in their last call to Dr Goud's family on July 16, they reassured them that the doctor was safe, asked them not to worry, and said they would set him free.

Dr Goud said that he couldn't thank the Delhi Police enough for saving his life and that he wanted to forget the incident as a bad phase of his life.

In a brief statement to the press before breaking down in distress and being taken away by the police, Dr Goud said that he couldn't thank the Delhi Police enough for saving his life and that he wanted to forget the incident as a bad phase of his life, TOI reported. "Mistakes may happen in life, but there is no point thinking about them. Ola did, after all, inform the police about my abduction," he said, according to the Millenium Post report.

On the night of July 6, Dr Goud was kidnapped by an Ola driver and his cronies, after he booked a cab to go home from a party. Out of the 9 accused in the case, the two prime conspirators are former Ola drivers who wanted to teach the company a lesson for non-payment of incentives. As ransom, the kidnappers had demanded Rs 5 crores for the doctor's release, not from his family, but from Ola Cabs. He was rescued by the Delhi Police on July 19 from near Meerut after a shootout in which one of the accused was injured. Four are in police custody, while five, including the two main conspirators, are still absconding.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.