An attempt of suspected abduction was foiled by alert police officials of Shakespeare Sarani Police station on Thursday night when they intercepted a cab with a tampered number plate at Russel Street. Four miscreants were apprehended and a toy gun, knives and some other articles including a map of the city with the Russel street area marked on it has been seized by the police.
The patrol team of the Shakespeare Sarani police station felt suspicious when they found a taxi in front of a nationalised bank branch on Russel Street bearing number WB04D1682 at the back side and number WB04D1592 on the blue line at the side of the vehicle. On interrogation, they claimed that they have come for a visit to the city from Bihar. However, the police found discrepancies in their statements and when they searched the four, one toy gun, two knives, two wide polymer tapes and a bedsheet were found in their possession. Two mobile phones were also seized.
"The tampered registration number of the cab and their statements makes us believe that they have come here with some ulterior motive. They were taken to the police station and after prolonged interrogation, they were arrested. Among the four, Md Ali Azad (21) is a resident of Bentinck Street while his accomplices, Sk Arman (22), Mohsin Khan (21) and Javed Khan (21) of Shivajinagar, Mumbai," joint commissioner of police (crime) Vishal Garg said.
They had a map of Kolkata with Russel Street area marked on it in colour.