Forty-eight hours after a marble businessman was allegedly abducted for a Rs 1 crore ransom, the Ranchi police struggled to make headway in the case.
Raju Mandal, the owner of Shiv Shakti Marbles on Ratu road, went missing on Monday evening after being lured out from his godown by an unidentified man, who was reportedly dressed as a policeman.
Police said a trace was put on the cellphone number from which Mandal’s family received the ransom call on the day of his abduction, but no more calls were made since and the phone was turned off. According to sources in the police special branch, the last location of the cellphone was Ormanjhi, around 30km from Ranchi.
“We have interrogated (Mandal’s) family members, his associates and friends. We are working on phone call traces,” said Ranchi SP (city) Kaushal Kishore on Wednesday.
Police said the man, claiming to be a jawan of the special task force, had lured Mandal out of the godown on the pretext of some marble work at the police’s Jharkhand Jaguar headquarters. Kishore said it was suspected that Mandal was later forced into a car and abducted.
Mandal’s family informed the police that he had twice received phone calls about work at the Jharkhand Jaguar headquarters and also threat calls from an unknown person, most recently on Sunday. The matter, however, was not reported to the police.
{{/usCountry}}Mandal’s family informed the police that he had twice received phone calls about work at the Jharkhand Jaguar headquarters and also threat calls from an unknown person, most recently on Sunday. The matter, however, was not reported to the police.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, members of the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber for Commerce and Industries met CM Raghubar Das and submitted a memorandum over safety of business owners in the city on Wednesday.