Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Apr 25: Popular YouTuber Saleem Wastik, known for publicly identifying himself as an “ex-Muslim”, has been arrested in connection with the kidnapping and murder of a Delhi businessman’s 13-year-old son nearly 31 years ago.
Police said Wastik, who had allegedly been living under a false identity for decades, was traced to the Loni area in Ghaziabad following a tip-off. Officials verified his identity using old records, fingerprints and photographs before taking him into custody. He has been sent to Tihar jail to serve a life sentence in the case involving kidnapping, extortion and murder.
The case dates back to January 20, 1995, when Sandeep Bansal, son of a cement businessman, left home for school in Delhi and did not return. A day later, the family received a ransom call demanding Rs 30,000 and was instructed to leave the money in a bus near the Loni flyover. The kidnappers allegedly threatened to kill the boy if police were informed.
The family alerted police, and during investigation, a neighbour told officers he had seen the child travelling in an autorickshaw with a tall youth known as ‘Masterji’. Police then traced Saleem Khan, now known as Saleem Wastik, who was then working as a martial arts instructor at Ramjas School in Daryaganj.
During interrogation, he allegedly confessed to the crime and led police to a drain in Mustafabad, where the boy’s body was recovered. Police also arrested his associate Anil, who was accused of helping plan the kidnapping and making ransom calls. The child’s school bag, tiffin box and wristwatch were recovered and later produced as evidence in court.
On August 5, 1997, a Karkardooma court convicted both accused and sentenced them to life imprisonment. While appealing in the Delhi High Court, Saleem was granted interim bail in November 2000, but absconded and failed to return. Though the High Court upheld his sentence in 2011, he remained on the run.
Investigators said he declared himself dead, adopted aliases including Salim Wastik and Salim Ahmed, and spent years hiding in Haryana before moving to Ghaziabad in 2010, where he ran a women’s clothing store and later emerged as a social activist and YouTuber known for controversial commentary on religion and terrorism.
Sources said a Bollywood producer had reportedly planned a biopic based on his life and had even advanced Rs 15 lakh for the project, but the arrest has stalled those plans.
Notably, Wastik was stabbed multiple times at his Ghaziabad residence last month by two men allegedly angered by his remarks on religion. CCTV footage of the attack had gone viral, showing the assailants repeatedly attacking him inside his home.
Both accused in that attack, identified as Zeeshan and Gulfam, who carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh each, were later killed in separate police encounters.