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January 20, 1995: Sandeep, the 13-year-old son of a cement businessman, left for school in Delhi but never returned.
The family searched extensively but couldn’t find him. The next day, the businessman received a call stating that his son had been kidnapped, with a ransom demand of ₹30,000.
The kidnappers instructed him to leave the money in a bus near Loni flyover and warned him not to inform the police. The family informed the police anyway, and a case was registered at Gokulpuri Police Station.
During the investigation, a neighbour said the child was seen in an autorickshaw with a tall man locally known as “Masterji” for being a school martial arts instructor. Police traced him, he was Salim Khan, a martial arts instructor at Ramjas School, Daryaganj. He confessed and led the police to a drain in Mustafabad, where the child’s body was found.
In 1997, the Karkardooma Court sentenced him to life imprisonment. He appealed in the Delhi High Court and was granted interim bail in 2000, but he absconded. In 2011, the High Court upheld his sentence, but he remained at large.
For 26 years, he hid in places like Karnal and Ambala, working as a wardrobe maker. Around 2010, he moved to Loni in Ghaziabad and opened a women’s clothing store. He later became a social activist and YouTuber under a new name, Salim Wastik, an ex-Muslim known for calling out radical preachers in Islam.
He had little name and fame until last month, when he was stabbed multiple times at his Ghaziabad home by two brothers, Zeeshan and Gulfam, for allegedly blasphemous comments on the Prophet, an incident that suddenly brought Salim into mainstream discussion. He survived, gaining newfound fame and a “warrior” image.
During this media coverage, the victim boy’s family noticed his face and suspected that he was the same Salim who had killed their son. They informed the police. Preliminary investigations, including fingerprint analysis, matched. Today, Salim Khan alias Salim Wastik was arrested.
Incidents like these make you believe that the consequences of your actions are paid here, in this life itself. Hope he rots in jail for the rest of his life.
English
