Abducted Orissa contractor rescued, one held

Times of India, July 14, 2010
GUMLA: A joint team of the Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh police rescued a contractor and his driver from a village in the Gumla district on Wednesday. The police also arrested one of the kidnappers and seized a Bolero which was used by the abductors having allegiance to the People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI).

The police also recovered the contractor's vehicle and seized two countrymade pistols and bullets from the possession of the arrested criminal.

Ashish Agarwal, director of Arti Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, Bhawanipatna-Kalahandi, Orissa, and his driver Tikchand Kumar were abducted from Thamrampur in Orissa when he was on way to his construction site on July 9. While Agarwal was travelling in his Tata Safari, the kidnappers, who were 10 in number and following him in a Tata 709 vehicle, intercepted his vehicle and took him and his driver hostage. The kidnappers then fled the spot along with the duo in the Tata Safari, the Gumla SP told mediapersons at a joint press conference attended by Chhattisgarh's Jashpur SP K C Agarwal.

From Simdega, the kidnappers entered the Gumla district the same night and went to Raidih-Kondra village in Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh. The Jashpur SP had confirmed that a Bolero was spotted in the area. Thereafter, check-posts were put up along the boundaries of the two states.

The contractor's vehicle was founded abandoned neat Netarhat valley under the Bishunpur police station of the district on Tuesday.

On Tuesday night, the captives were brought to Raidih police station area and kept in a house at Keradih village. While one of the kidnappers remained inside the house, five of his other accomplices kept a vigil on the house from outside. The rest of the kidnappers were striking a deal with Ashish Agarwal's family for ransom. The kidnappers even assaulted Agarwal during his captivity.

The contractor's father, Bhagi Prasad Agarwal, arrived here from Kalahandi district on Wednesday after hearing about the safe rescue of his son. He said that the kidnappers had asked them to meet at a place in Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh on Wednesday.

A joint team of police led by the OC of Raidih police station, Gulam Sahid Ansari, and inspector of police, Jashpur, Gopal Kumar Vaishya, conducted the raid and rescued the contractor and his driver. The arrested kidnapper has been identified as Nilodhar Nayak of Thuwamula village in Kalahandi district. Five of the abductors managed to flee.

Police have seized the Bolero (JH-7B-7604) used by the kidnappers while Bishunpur OC Digvijay Singh recovered the contractor's Tata Safari (OR-08F-1011). The Bolero belonged to one Raghunath Singh of Gumla district. The police will book Singh and the owner of the house where the duo were held captive, the Jashpur SP said.

According to the Gumla SP, the abduction was executed by a PLFI squad led by one Gudu Oraon.