Geeta and Sanjay Chopra kidnapping case

The Billa Ranga Kidnapping Case was a notorious crime in New Delhi in 1978. Two children, Geeta and Sanjay Chopra, were kidnapped by two young men, Billa and Ranga (Kuljeet Singh), who planned to demand ransom from the parents of the children. Their plans went awry when the car they were in got collided with a public bus.They subsequently murdered the children and fled from Delhi. They were arrested on a train a few months later, tried, and hanged for the crime in 1982. [ [http://www.manupatrainternational.in/supremecourt/1980-2000/sc1981/s810169.htm Kuljeet Singh alias Ranga vs. Union of India (UOI) and Anr (21.04.1981 - SC) ] ] The crime was an important psychological turning point for residents of Delhi in changing their perceptions of living in a reasonably safe city to one of living with crime.Fact|date=June 2008

The kidnapping

The children were reported missing on 26th August 1978 and their bodies discovered on 29th August 1978. [Corruption in India by K. N. Gupta. New Delhi, Anmol Publications, 2001. p. 261.] It later transpired that they had been kidnapped while hitching a ride from outside the gated community, Dhaula Kuan, where they lived.

The trial

Aftermath

In 1978, the Indian Council for Child Welfare instituted two bravery awards for children under the age of 16, the Sanjay Chopra award and the Geeta Chopra award. [ [http://www.indianchild.com/national_bravery_awards.htm The National Bravery Awards for Indian Children ] ]

The Janata Party, which was ruling Delhi at the time of the incident, was defeated in the 1978 elections partly because of its handling of the Billa Ranga case. [ [http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2003/10/17/stories/2003101709160400.htm The Hindu : Rising crime graph worries BJP ] ]

Film and literature

References