Billa Ranga Kidnapping Case

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 when awry when the car they were in got collided with a public bus and 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.^[1] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 The kidnapping 2 The arrest of Billa and Ranga 3 The trial 4 Aftermath 5 Film and literature 6 References

[edit] The kidnapping

The children were reported missing on 26th August 1978 and their bodies discovered on 29th August 1978.^[2] It later transpired that they had been kidnapped while hitching a ride from outside the gated community, Dhaula Kuan, where they lived.

[edit] The arrest of Billa and Ranga

[edit] The trial

[edit] 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

[edit] Film and literature

[edit] References