Schoolmate Masterminded Bhubaneswar Youth’s Kidnapping For Money, Say Police

The Commissionerate Police probing the sensational kidnapping case of a businessman’s son in Bhubaneswar on Thursday made a startling revelation claiming that the crime was actually the handiwork of a schoolmate of the victim.  

Ishan Agarwal, the victim, was safely rescued from the clutches of his kidnappers by the Commissionerate Police on Wednesday. 

As many as 19 teams of police were involved in the operation and all the four accused involved have been arrested.

The police said Dhaneswar Patra, who was a schoolmate of the victim, had prepared the blueprint of the kidnapping plot along with his three friends for money. 

Briefing the media, Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Umashankar Dash said, “One among the accused, who studied with the victim in school, breached his trust. The accused provided all information to other accused about the victim which helped them abduct him.” 

“The accused friend of the victim maintained distance from the victim during the kidnapping and covered his face to hide his identity. After the youth was rescued, he recognised the accused,” Dash added.  

Dash further said that the accused employed all the techniques to mislead the police. 

“The accused moved to different places and changed locations frequently. They kept the victim at one place and placed his cellphone elsewhere to mislead the police,” Dash said. 

Ishan was abducted by the miscreants when he stepped out of his house in Laxmisagar area to have a cup of tea on January 31 evening.

“Two men initially called out my name. As they were wearing masks and hoodies, I could not recognise them. When I went near the vehicle, they grabbed me and pushed me into the vehicle. They then tied up my hands and blindfolded me,” Ishan said after being rescued. 

“All the four persons involved in the kidnapping of the Bhubaneswar youth were arrested in a 36 hour-long precision guided operation which was closely monitored by the top brass to rule out any slip up. It was success at last and the boy is back safe and sound. All the accused are professional kidnappers and were involved in a similar crime in Berhampur earlier last month,” Twin City Police Commissioner Saumendra Priyadarshi said during a presser on Wednesday.  

Meanwhile, the police today recreated crime scene with the help of the accused to get first hand information about the whole sequence of the kidnapping.