The Bihar and Jharkhand border, passing through the forest of North Chotanagpur, is increasingly becoming a hub of high-profile kidnappings for ransom. This is the second such case in less than four months, wherein a noted doctor from Gaya and his wife were kidnapped in their Audi SUV on Friday. The couple was travelling from Giridih in Jharkhand to Gaya in Bihar when the incident took place.
Dr Pankaj Kumar Gupta, a physician in Gaya, and his wife Shubhra Gupta, who owns a garment showroom, were returning from a family function in Giridih. They went missing after crossing the Barhi toll plaza in Jharkhand around 12pm on Friday on the busy NH-2, also known as the Grand Trunk (GT) Road.
The incident that took place at a busy road near Barachati, the same place from where Ravi Ranjan Singh, a mining contractor and relative of Siwan District Magistrate, was kidnapped on January 22 this year. Sources in the Bihar police department said Singh’s kidnapping was ‘settled’, after a hefty ransom was paid. He was released a month after being abducted.
“The similarity in both the cases at the GT Road is that the kidnappers had used a Fortuner SUV for committing the crimes. The involvement of some high-profile kidnappers, enjoying political patronage cannot be ruled out,” a high-level source in the Bihar police said.
Interestingly, a Pajero SUV, belonging to Chandan Sonar - kingpin of the famous Sohel Hingora abduction case - was also recovered from Barachati. Hingora was released in December 2013, after a ransom of Rs 25 crore was paid - the largest till date. Sonar, also a prime accused in the abduction of Gujarat’s textile magnet’s son, has not been arrested yet.
Given the fact that the stretch from Giridih to Sherghati near Gaya is a Naxal-prone area, there is continuous patrolling by CRPF jawans.
There are two major CRPF camps within a distance of 60 km on either sides of Barachati.
Talking to Millennium Post, Gaya SSP P Kannan said, “We are investigating the matter. An SIT team has been constituted to look into the case. We have got some lead, which can’t be disclosed. It (the case) will be solved soon.”