The Gajapati police finally cracked the kidnapping of a minor boy of Kashinagar and arrested eight miscreants including kingpin of the crime who is a BJD student wing leader. On December 16, while playing with friends, Hardik (7) was kidnapped. After a frantic search for the child, Hardik's father Jammi Gopi had filed a complaint at the Kashinagar police station of Gajapati. The police had deployed 4 teams to trace Hardik. DIG Southern Range, Satyabrata Bhoi had assured to rescue the kidnapped child at a Press meet on December 18. And on the same day the boy was rescued from an under construction building at a godown, 3 km from Kashinagar.The kidnappers had demanded Rs 50 lakh as ransom money in lieu of returning the child. Gopi, father of the kidnapped, who is a cashew merchant, had paid Rs 7.5 lakh in the first phase.
Police raided several locations and arrested the accused besides seizing Rs 2.21 lakh cash, an Indigo car, five bikes, seven mobile sets and 2 sprays (used to faint the kidnapped boy) from them.