Rayagada: The father of a well-known contractor in the town was reportedly abducted by Maoists from a farmhouse at Malipada village under Tadama panchayat late Thursday night.
Sources said the Maoists have demanded a ransom of Rs 5 crore to free Raghunath Samantrai’s father Niladri.
Raghunath, who is a well-to-do contractor as well as an active party worker of the Biju Janata Dal, owns a farmhouse in Malipada where his father Niladri spends most of his time.
According to reports, four youths said to be Maoists scaled the compound wall of the farmhouse at about 2.15 am and intercepted a guard Chenka Rao and forced him at knifepoint to remain silent. They then locked a room from the outside in which several workers employed at the farmhouse were sleeping. They then kidnapped Niladri and bundled him into a waiting jeep guarded by another four accomplices.
Rao said the entire kidnapping was over in less than 15 minutes. The kidnappers called Raghunath on his phone and instructed him to come with Rs 5 crore in order to save his father. While they spoke on the phone in Telugu, they left behind a note in Oriya at the farmhouse written by Vamsadhara-Ghumsar division secretary Sukhdev, sources said.
Raghunath rushed to the farmhouse early in the morning and lodged a complaint with police after speaking to his employees. Based on the complaint, police registered a case and launched an investigation.
Rayagada SDPO Y Jagannath Rao and IIC RK Patra of Town police station along with a forensic team arrived at Malipada for a preliminary probe. Apart from involvement of the Maoists, other angles are also being examined, SDPO Rao said. PNN