No ransom call, father kept in dark

NOIDA: When two motorcycle-borne masked men kidnapped three-year-old Anant on Monday morning, his father was on a flight from USA to Delhi. Naresh Gupta, Adobe India’s CEO, had no inkling of the incident. His flight was scheduled to land at IGIA at 2 am on Tuesday. An inconsolable Nidhi Gupta, Anant’s mother, was ruing the day the family left the USA to settle in Noida 10 years back.‘‘Hum sochte the apne log hai, apna desh hai,’’ she said. ‘‘Par ab ji karta hai sab kuchh samet kar vapas chali jaaon yahan se (We thought we were going to be in our own country, amidst our own people. But, now I feel like winding up everything and going back to the US).’’ Nidhi has joined the nearby Marwah Studio to do a Master of Arts course in mass communications. That is what took her away from her house in the morning.
Neighbours kept coming in to console the family. Two guards manned the gate to deter unwanted visitors. Nidhi was surrounded by friends and relatives.
Daughter Charvi had not been told what had happened. A heavy-hearted aunt, Veena, was playing with the girl to distract her from what was going on. Outside the house, media teams were waiting for some word about a ransom call or Anant’s whereabouts. But till late in the night, there was no news.