Lucknow, Jul 25 (PTI) A six-year-old grandson of a trader was rescued and four people who allegedly abducted him were arrested after an encounter in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda district on Saturday, officials said.

Some persons, allegedly carrying identity cards of the Health Department, had come to a locality in Colonelganj on Friday afternoon on the pretext of distributing masks, according to police.

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The grandson of gutkha trader Rajesh Kumar Gupta was standing at a distance when the suspects approached him to give hand sanitiser and pulled him inside the vehicle. Later, the family got a call from a woman for a ransom Rs 4 crore, a police official said.

In a joint operation, the special task force (STF) and the police rescued the child and arrested four kidnappers following an encounter, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said.

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The car used for kidnapping and three weapons have also been recovered, Awasthi said, adding that two of the abductors had also suffered injuries during the encounter.

A reward of Rs 2 lakh has been declared for the joint team of the STF and police, which successfully carried out the operation, the official added. PTI

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)