BHUBANESWAR: Police on Thursday arrested four anti-socials, allegedly involved in illegal mining, on charges of abducting a man suspecting him to be a police informer.
The accused are Asim Kumar Routray (53), his brother Goutam Keshari Routray and their sons Abhishek (23) and Biswajit (20) respectively, of Paikarapur village within Chandaka police limits.
Police said Asim, Goutam and their two associates Satyabrata Nayak and Bijaya Pradhan were engaged in illegal mining/transportation of morrum and laterite. The accused suspected the victim, Swagat Sethi (35) of Paikarapur, was a police informer. They assumed Swagat had informed the police about their involvement in illegal mining.
However, sources said Swagat was not a police informer but he used to oppose the accused over the illegal activity. The miscreants allegedly kidnapped Swagat near Batamangala temple on Wednesday morning and took him to Asim’s house in a car. They also reportedly resorted to caste-based abuse and thrashed him.
Satyabrata and Goutam then contacted Swagat’s brother and demanded Rs 5 lakh ransom for his release. They threatened to kill Swagat if he did not give them the money. On receiving information, police conducted a raid, rescued the victim and nabbed Asim, Goutam, Abhishek and Biswajit. However, Satyabrata and Bijaya are on the run. Three Hyva trucks and a car have been seized from them, police said.