The three people who had been kidnapped in Palamu have finally been rescued from a jungle in latehar district’s Kedi Mahua. The kidnapped were identified as Sujit Mehta, ladoo Mehta and Kishore Mehta.
The SP Palamu Patel Mayur Kanhaiya lal issued a one-page note on the rescue of the kidnapped. The kidnapping took place on February 13 at Thamwaha under Chainpur block in Palamu. A ransom to the tune of Rs15 lakh was demanded. However, the SP’s note said no ransom was paid. This was corroborated by the version of one of the rescued three who said police reached them and the kidnappers ran helter and skelter giving them a chance to flee and then the three met the police and their freedom was thus secured.
The police have arrested two persons on charge of kidnapping in the case. They are Anil Pal and Pappu Paswan, both of Palamu’s Pandu police station area. Anil Pal, in fact, helped police rescue the three. He gave leads of the Kedi Mahua jungle of Manika where these three were kept in captivity. Police have seized the four-wheeler used in the kidnapping, said the SP’s note.
The kidnappers have no Naxal tag, according to police. There are in all seven in this gang which is led by one Bhola Singh of latehar district. The four-wheeler seized by the police belongs to Pappu Paswan. The kidnapping of the three Mehtas had a tinge of a Hindi movie thriller. The kidnappers were in their four- wheeler at Ranka in Garhwa district when at a petrol pump they saw the Mehtas coming in their car and then started following it and at Thamwaha overtook it and held the three leaving behind Mehtas’ car which the police seized on February 14 and the family members of Mehta took it back home.
No gun shot was fired, said sources. Had the police not arrested Anil Pal the case would not have been solved so fast. The kidnapping was carried out on February 13 while the rescue was done on Feb 15. On Monday, the three rescued were brought before the scribes by the SP.