A woman police sub-inspector and a journalist were among four people arrested for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping of a businessman from Odisha‘s Bolangir district, police said on Monday.
Hotelier Narendra Sahu (62) was allegedly abducted at gunpoint from Bolangir on August 14 and brought to Bhubaneswar, where he was tied up, assaulted and confined in a hotel in the Khandagiri police station area, they said.
Police rescued him on August 15 after his family lodged a missing-person complaint when he failed to return home, and his mobile phone was found switched off.
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During the investigation, police examined CCTV footage and found that Sahu’s vehicle was heading towards Bhubaneswar.
Prime accused Kshitish Chandra Sahu and his associates allegedly kidnapped Narendra Sahu and brought him to the city, a police officer said.
The accused allegedly assaulted him and forced him to pose with a pistol as if he had kidnapped Kshitish.
The act was recorded on video and allegedly used to blackmail Narendra Sahu and demand a ransom of ₹50 lakh, police said.
Kshitish’s sister, Snehamanjari Sahu, a police sub-inspector posted at Khandagiri police station, was also allegedly involved in the crime.
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Police said Bhubaneswar-based journalist Sanjay Jena, who is allegedly close to Snehamanjari, impersonated a police officer and escorted Narendra Sahu to Khandagiri police station on August 15.
Kshitish and his associate Sanjiv Behera were later arrested when they allegedly attempted to lodge a false counter-complaint at the police station to frame Narendra Sahu and mislead the police.
The alleged kidnapping plot came to light when a special squad reached the police station as Narendra Sahu was being brought there to lodge the complaint, police said.
Bolangir SP Abhilash G said the kidnapping was planned to extort ₹50 lakh from the businessman.
“The accused SI threatened the victim to register a fake criminal case against him if he fails to pay ₹50 lakh within 24 hours,” he said.
The accused allegedly misused the police station premises under the influence of Snehamanjari Sahu, the SP said.
Himanshu Kumar Lal, Inspector General, Northern Range, said four people had been arrested and the investigation was underway to identify and nab others involved in the crime.
Police also found that the alleged kidnapping was linked to a rare antique ‘Hanuman Paisa‘, which is believed by some to possess extraordinary wealth-generating or supernatural properties, Lal said.
Kshitish told police that he had paid around ₹2.7 crore to Narendra in 2020 for the antique coin but claimed that neither the coin was delivered nor his money returned.
Narendra has denied the allegation, officials said, adding that the police were investigating this aspect of the case as well.
