Five held for abducting bizman

The North 24 Parganas police on Thursday arrested five people, including a woman, on charges of kidnapping a businessman and asking for a ransom worth Rs 8 lakh.

The police said that the accused posing as CID officers had abducted the businessman Tarapada Ghosh, a resident of Duttapukur. Ghosh comes frequently to Barasat in connection with his business.

On Wednesday, four of the accused accosted him and forced him to get into a car. They took him to a house in the Anandapuri area. They beat him up and asked for ransom worth Rs 8 lakh. They called up his residence and threatened to kill him if they failed to give the money. They also named the place and asked them to bring the money in a briefcase to that place. They further said that he would be killed if the family members made any attempt to get in touch with the police.

Finding no other option, Ghosh’s son contacted police who assured him of every cooperation. The police began tracking them through their cell phone and got information of the house in Anandapuri where Ghosh was kept. He was not given food and was beaten up severely as no response came from his family.

A large contingent of police cordoned off the building. The roads were blocked. They broke open the door and entered the house. Five people including a woman were arrested. They were identified as Subrata Das, Kapil Deb, Deb Kumar Biswas and Jahagir Alam.

During interrogation the accused told police that they had set up an NGO called Crime Prevention Society and took money from people to provide security and conduct investigation secretly.

Ghosh has been admitted to a private nursing where he is undergoing treatment.