Kidnappers used 20 different phone numbers to dodge police, caught in 24hrs

13-year-old son of a priest in Bihar's Kaimur district was kidnapped on Thursday evening and a demand for ₹58 lakh ransom was made by the abductors, setting the police on a 24-hour-long intense hunt for the criminals, which ended successfully with the recovery of the boy. The incident occurred at Karnpura village in Ramgarh police station limits of Kaimur district.

The case was solved within 24 hours with the boy's recovery from a remote house, situated on the banks of river Ganga in Gazipur district of bordering Uttar Pradesh, and one man was arrested, superintendent of police, Rakesh Kumar said on Saturday.

Two persons claiming to be clients sought consultation with the priest, Ashok Kumar Pandey, on Thursday evening to fix an auspicious date for griha pravesh pooja (house inauguration ceremony).

The priest asked them to visit after January 15, when the inauspicious period as per Hindu calendar ends. The two men assured to visit later but requested the priest to send someone to accompany them to the village shop as they had to purchase some goods. The priest sent his 13-year-old son Priyanshu. It was about 5pm.

When the boy did not return till late evening, the family and the villagers launched a search, but to no avail. At 7 pm, kidnappers called the priest and demanded a ransom of rupees five lakh for the safe release of the boy. The family informed Ramgarh police and a case of kidnapping was registered.

Next day at 10am, the kidnappers again called the father and raised the ransom to ₹58 lakh while threatening to kill the boy if he informed the police.

A police team led by the district intelligence unit (DIU) in-charge, Santosh Kumar Verma, started electronic surveillance and activated manual intelligence in the area bordering UP.

Kidnappers used 20 phone numbers and 6 International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers, registered in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, to throw the police off the trail, police said.

Despite chilling cold and dense fog in the area, the police and intelligence team worked round the clock and recovered the boy from a house at Birpur village under Bharwarpur police station in Gazipur district of UP.

One of the accused Satya Narayan Tiwary was arrested. Tiwary confessed that his son, Vishwamitra Tiwary, with friend Manish Tiwary, had hatched the kidnapping plan to make a quick buck after noticing that the priest was wealthy.

Raids were being conducted to arrest both the absconding kidnappers.

The superintendent of police Rakesh Kumar said that the district intelligence unit (DIU) in-charge Santosh Kumar Verma, constable Kapil Mandal and Ramgarh SHO Rajiv Ranjan, would be suitably rewarded for excellent investigation and hard work.