E-Paper
Odisha trader, on way to Bhubaneswar from Bihar, abducted in Jharkhand
Family members claimed that the abductors had demanded Rs 5 crore as ransom for the safe release of Dr Manas Ranjan Das and his two aides
A prominent businessman of Odisha and his two associates were kidnapped in Giridih district of Jharkhand on Wednesday night.
Dr Manas Ranjan Das, a veterinary doctor at Bhubaneswar in Odisha, was abducted along with his aides when he was on way to his hometown from Hajipur in Bihar’s Vaishali district, where he ran a poultry feed processing unit.
The incident came to light when Giridih police found an abandoned Mercedes car (bearing registration no OR-09P/9999) on GT Road near Kasturba High School, Dumri. The police recovered a TV set, its remote, two LPG cylinders, a stove and a dish TV equipment from the vehicle.
Investigations revealed that the vehicle was owned by Das. When police contacted Das’s wife Dolly Dutta, she said her husband ran a processing unit of poultry feed in Industrial police station area at Hajipur and was returning to Bhubaneswar via Dhanbad and Kolkata.
Dutta and some of her family members later reached Giridih and registered a case of abduction against unknown persons under of Indian Penal Code section 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) at Dumri police station.
Family members also claimed that the abductors had demanded Rs 5 crore as ransom for the safe release of Das and his aides.
Police, who have scanned the CCTV footage at Bagodar and Barhi toll plaza on GT Road, said Das and his aides were taken to an undisclosed location by khaki-clad men in two SUVs with ‘police’ written on them.
Hazaribagh deputy inspector general Bhim Sen Tuti said a special task force had been formed to crack the case. The area of investigation had been extended to neighboring Bihar and West Bengal as there was a strong possibility that the victim could have been taken to Bihar, he said.
Giridih superintendent of police (SP) Akhilesh B Veriar said separate police teams had been formed to raid the hideouts of criminals in Bihar and Odisha. Veriar said apart from Bihar, Das also had business interests in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Bihar additional director general (headquarters) Sanjiv Kumar Singhal said in Patna that a special task force would assist the Giridih police in the investigation. A phot of Das had sent to all SPs in Bihar, he added.
