Keonjhar: Police cracked the kidnapping case of Nimananda Pradhan, vice president of Grewal Minerals and Metals LLP, in Barbil under Keonjhar district and arrested seven persons including his driver in this connection Saturday.
The abduction was orchestrated by Pradhan’s driver in collaboration with the notorious Sadab gang of neighbouring Jharkhand.
The accused were identified as the driver Md Firoz, 50, from Barbil; Sarfaraz Ansari alias Babu, 45, from Tulsi Square area under Doranda police limits in Jharkhand; Budhendranath Singh, 55, from Lake Garden area in Kolkata; Rajendra Paswan, 53, from Barsha village under Chand police limits; Jamil Akhtar , 48, from Hindpiri village under Hindpiri police limits; Farha Parveen, 50, from Kanke village under Kanke police limits, and Sadab Naubahar, 46, from Banglatanda village under Chakradharpur police station in Jharkhand.
Cash worth Rs50.90 lakh, firearms, a diary mentioning the crime blueprints, a bike (JH 01 AQ 0584), eight mobile phones, one Renault Duster car (OD 33K 7223) and various identity cards were seized from the possession of the accused persons.
This was stated here by Rourkela IG Brijesh Kumar Rai in the presence of other senior police officials including Keonjhar SP Nitin Kusalkar at a presser held at the district police headquarters Saturday. The senior police officials confirmed the arrests of seven individuals in connection with the case. According to the police, Pradhan left his office in a car and headed to his residence in Barbil February 12.
However, he and his driver soon went missing. Concerned over their disappearance, Pradhan’s family members lodged a written complaint at Barbil police station February 13 (Thursday), suspecting the driver’s involvement. All the accused were produced in the court Saturday. However, police are yet to reveal whether the abduction was due to business rivalry or for some other reasons.
DIG (Western Range) and Keonjhar SP immediately reached Barbil and launched a six-day investigation. They operated from the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) guest house at Barbil and directly monitored an investigation spanning over six days.
Twelve police teams were dispatched which probed the case from various angles while some went to Jharkhand for CCTV footage analysis and other leads. The case took a critical turn when Firoz returned safely with Pradhan.
However, inconsistencies in their accounts raised suspicion. Under interrogation, Firoz admitted to collaborating with the Sk. Sadab gang of Jharkhand in orchestrating the kidnapping for extortion. Further investigation is underway to determine the source of the seized cash and find any additional links to the crime.
The other accused will be arrested soon, the IG said. Pradhan was threatened at gunpoint and forced to remain silent. After Pradhan’s family paid a ransom of Rs60 lakh for his release, police intensified their investigation, leading to the arrests of several suspects.
PNN
