His kidnappers had allegedly demanded a ransom of Rs 3 lakh — a woman, claiming to be part of the gang, had last called up on February 13. This was two days after Chintu Sharma, a Class II student of a municipal school in Krishna Vihar, Sultanpuri, had been allegedly kidnapped.

Police officers said Chintu had left home for school around 12.30 pm on February 11 — he studied in the afternoon shift. They suspect Chintu left his school bag in the classroom and went out to urinate when he was kidnapped. His mother Komal Sharma has told police that she got a phone call at home within an hour: the caller, a woman, sought Rs 20,000 for Chintu’s release.

“The kidnapper rang up again a little while later and hiked her ransom demand to Rs 30,000,” she said.

A while later, Komal said the woman called up again, this time demanding a ransom of Rs 3 lakh.

“I told her that we did not have that kind of money to pay.” She said she handed the phone over to the boy’s father, Lalit Sharma. After a brief conversation with the caller, Sharma registered a kidnapping case at Sultanpuri police station the same day.

On February 13, the kidnapper called again, reiterating her demand: this time Lalit Sharma argued with her and demanded that he be allowed to talk to his son. The woman at the other end of the line reportedly disconnected at this point — the family did not get any further call.

Police officers said preliminary investigations suggest the woman who called for ransom comes from the same area as the family. Police also suspect she knew the boy. Police officials said the first ransom call was made from a PCO in Pooth Kalan, the second from Begampur, and the third from Krishna Vihar.

“She used different public telephone booths to make the calls,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Northern Range) Karnal Singh said.