New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS) A seven-year-old girl was rescued within 24 hours of being kidnapped and two people including her cousin were arrested, police said Friday. The duo had apparently been inspired by the plot of a Bollywood film.
Akshita was rescued and her cousin Vikas Sethi, 23, and Shahid, 22, were caught Thursday for allegedly kidnapping the girl Wednesday, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South, H.G.S. Dhaliwal said.

According to the police officials, the girl lives with her mother Neesha Madan in south Delhi’s Khanpur area, and was missing from the time she went to her neighbour’s house for tuition.

“Neesha received a ransom call asking for Rs.500,000 for the release of the girl. The unknown caller had threatened to kill the girl if police were informed. The caller also threatened that the ransom should not be delivered by any relative or close friend of the complainant,” Dhaliwal said.

The last request tipped off the police to suspect that a relative was involved in the kidnapping.

“He got the idea from the film ‘Apaharan’ and faked Mumbai slang while making the ransom calls,” he added.

Police then tracked the suspects to Vishwas Nagar in east Delhi where the girl’s aunt lives. Officials said that Sethi was heavily under debt.

“Sethi was interrogated thoroughly and he broke down, confessing to the crime of kidnapping the girl for money. The girl was rescued from a barber shop run by the other accused,” Dhaliwal said.

The police said in the 22 cases of kidnapping for ransom in the national capital this year, relatives, friends or business associates had been involved in 20 of the cases.