TIMBER MERCHANT and CAL secretary Khaliq Mukhtar Khan’s movement was last traced to Chandauli district on December 29. The details collected by the Special Task Force (STF) and the Varanasi police have revealed this.
On the other hand, despite all strong evidences establishing that the origin of Khan’s kidnapping began from Lucknow and the conspiracy was hatched here, the city police refused to probe the case and passed on the buck to its Varanasi counterpart.
The investigation so far revealed that kidnappers Ashish Ranjan and Shashikant Tripathi, who introduced themselves as NTPC engineers, had handed over Khan to other members of the gang.
SSP Varanasi Navniet Sekera said call details of the two cellphones being used by Ranjan and Tripathi established their presence at the Varanasi railway station around 6 am on December 29. The duo had assured Khan that a vehicle from the NTPC would pick him up from the station.
The call details confirmed that the duo had received Khan and taken him with them in a vehicle. The details showed that the last call was made from two cellphones near Chandauli and both the mobiles were found switched off since then, Sekera said.
SP (City) Varanasi Anant Deo, who was probing the case, said leading timber merchants in Lucknow were prime target of kidnappers. Ashish Ranjan and Shashikant had visited all leading timber merchants in the city, including those at Maulviganj, Aishbagh, Gomti Nagar and Faizabad Road on December 12. The duo had given the same offer to all these traders, including Khan. While others ignored the offer Khan accepted it and was trapped.
{{/usCountry}}SP (City) Varanasi Anant Deo, who was probing the case, said leading timber merchants in Lucknow were prime target of kidnappers. Ashish Ranjan and Shashikant had visited all leading timber merchants in the city, including those at Maulviganj, Aishbagh, Gomti Nagar and Faizabad Road on December 12. The duo had given the same offer to all these traders, including Khan. While others ignored the offer Khan accepted it and was trapped.
{{/usCountry}}Sources in the STF revealed that the modus operandi of Khan’s kidnapping indicated the involvement of a major gang. The way the two youths met the traders, introduced them as NTPC engineers and left their visiting cards indicated a neatly hatched plan.
The computer portrait of the two suspects made by STF sleuths were shown to other traders who confirmed that much of the sketch resembled the kidnappers.