Abducted Hinjili youth rescued from Kolkata

Hinjili (Ganjam): Youth abducted from Hinjili on March 29 was rescued by the local police team from Kolkata and two persons were held for their involvement in the kidnapping case.

After tracking mobile phones and examining the call records, the police team managed to trace the abducted youth, Pratap Kumar Patnaik, from a locality in Kolkata. The abductors were demanding a Rs 2 lakh ransom from Pratap’s family members for his release.

The wife of Pratap had lodged a complaint at the Hinjili police station on March 30 alleging her husband was kidnapped at 1 pm the day before by two persons while she was away from home.

The police have arrested Ankur Ray of Kolkata and Rajkishore Andyia of Balasore for their involvement in the youth kidnap case. The two accused were brought in a transit remand by the Hinjili police from Kolkata and the quizzing is on.

Pratap, the abducted youth and former staff of Berhampur office of Patel Roadways, told newsmen, "The two accused forcibly took me in a motorcycle from my house to the Berhampur railway station and then to Kolkata. I was kept in a locked room and beaten up severely."

He further stated, "The abductors demanded Rs 2 lakh for the release and handed over a mobile phone asking me to call up my family to pay the ransom amount."

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Asked on whether he could identify the two abductors, Pratap stated, "One of the two kidnappers, Ankur, is the area manager of Patel Roadways and the other one is Rajkishore."

Prashant Kumar Sahu, IIC of Hinjili police station, said, "A special police team was formed to probe into the kidnapping case. Prima facie shows extortion motive behind Pratap's abduction."