I-T officer allegedly abducted, found in Nainital hotel

In a twisted tale of kidnapping, an official of the income tax department was first allegedly abducted and a letter demanding a ransom of Rs 2 lakh was sent to his office. Within 24 hours, the official was tracked at a hotel in Nainital and brought back to Delhi. He still claims he was kidnapped, said police.

On December 24, a sealed parcel was mailed by someone to the Income Tax Office in Delhi. It contained a letter informing that a Multitask Officer, identified as Vinod Singh Bisht (30), was abducted. The kidnappers, instead of sending the parcel to his residence, demanded a ransom amount of Rs 2 lakh and mentioned that his family should be informed about it.

The parcel triggered panic in the Income Tax office and some of the officers rushed to IP Estate police station to report the incident. “A case under Section 364A (kidnapping for ransom) was registered immediately,” said Paramaditya, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central).

To prove that Bisht was actually kidnapped, the alleged abductors sent his identity card, ATM card, PAN card and a few other documents in the parcel. They also mentioned that the ransom should be sent at a particular location at a mentioned time where people would be there to collect it and release Bisht.

“However, Bisht was tracked by the police – through technical inputs and human intelligence – much before the time mentioned by the alleged abductors. A police team of the central district was sent to Nainital, where Bisht was found in a quite luxurious hotel room,” DCP Paramaditya added.

On December 25 afternoon, Bisht was brought back to Delhi. Police have not ruled out that Bisht could have designed the whole incident because he desperately needed money for something, said a police official. He further said, throughout the journey Bisht maintained that he was kidnapped and taken to Nainital. However, things shall get clearer once Bisht is questioned.