BALANGIR: After around 24 hours of the abduction of a businessman from near Randa village in Balangir’s Puintala block on Friday, police rescued him from Bhubaneswar’s Khandagiri area on Saturday. Two accused were also arrested in connection with the incident.
The accused are Khitish Sahu of Kantamal in Boudh and Sanjiv Behera of Balangir town. The businessman, Narendra Sahu, was kidnapped on Friday night, following which Balangir police launched an investigation and sought the assistance of Bhubaneswar police to trace him. The joint operation led to Narendra being rescued from Khandagiri. Police apprehended Khitish from Khandagiri and took him to Balangir for questioning. They later arrested Sanjiv from Balangir.
Balangir SP Abilash G said the preliminary investigation suggests that the alleged abduction was linked to a dispute over a ‘Hanuman coin’. Police suspect the dispute involved Rs 2.70 crore that the accused had reportedly given Narendra around four years ago.