Law Kumar Mishra
Patna: Two young sons: Kapil Sharma (27) and Suresh Sharma (40), of a leading marble dealer from Badarpur in New Delhi, Babu Lal Sharma,. who were kidnapped from Patna airport on October 20 immediately after landing there, were rescued on Wednesday morning from an ashram in Kajra jugles on Lakhisarai-Munger district border.
Confirming the recovery of the two youths, Senior SP of Patna Manu Maharaaj said Rs four crore was demanded as ransom by the kidnappers who were led by a notorious criminal Ranjit Don of Lakhisarai. Five kidnappers including two women were arrested from Rang Rishi Ashram at Mahua Koli village in Kajra jungles, he said. The women were engaged as cooks by the kidnappers.
Maharaaj said the police recovered mobile sets with West Bengal, UP and Delhi SIM cards which were used for demanding ransom giving an impression that the hostages were in these places. A police team was sent to New Delhi on on October 25 to question the employees of the marble dealers company.
Father of the hostages said the callers had called their children to Patna for giving them a contract of supply of marble for Rs 12 crore for use in IIT Kharagpur (West bengal). The callers had arranged taxi from Patna airport from where they were taken to Bakhtiarpur and Mokama, where two members of the kidnappers gang joined them in an Indigo car.
The youths were first taken to Haveli Kharagpur in Munger district and then to Kajra jungles Lakhisarai. During questioning of the employees in New Delhi, Patna police found an employee from Munger. He was arrested and during questioning he revealed the location of the hostages. He was brought over to Patna on October 25 night and on his information, police raided the hideout in Kajra. The first ransom call was made from the mobile of Kapil Sharma. His mobile was later switched off and more calls were made from mobiles with SIM cards of other states.
The kidnappers had even booked the to and fro air tickets of the hostages, the SSP said. Last week, a dealer from Allahabad was also kidnapped and kept at Munger. He too had paid heavy ransom for his release, sources said.
Last week, whille speaking at Bihar Chamber of Commerce, CM Nitish Kumar had appealed to the businessmen from other states to visit Bihar fearlessly as rule of law prevails in the state. He had asked the industrialists to invest in Bihar where there was no law and order problem. During the 15 years of Lalu-Rabri regime in Bihar from 1990 to early 2005-,kidnapping for ransom had taken the form of an industry.