JAGATSINGHPUR: Police on Sunday arrested a 35-year-old man on charges of abducting his niece for marriage and demanding Rs 3 lakh ransom to release her. The accused was identified as Dilip Kumar Behera of the Khurda district. Sources said Behera had developed a one-sided love affair with his 25-year-old niece of Palasa village within Jagatsinghpur police limits.
On Tuesday last week, the victim was on way to the local market when Behera intercepted her at Kulashree bridge and abducted her. He took her to a relative’s house at Badagada in Bhubaneswar and confined her there.
Behera threatened his niece to marry him and when the latter refused, he started to torture her and stopped giving her food. As he had taken away her mobile phone, the victim was unable to contact any of her family members.
When the accused failed to persuade his niece for marriage, he asked her to call her parents and tell them to pay Rs 3 lakh ransom for her release. When the woman refused to carry out his order, she was threatened with dire consequences and mercilessly assaulted.
After three days in captivity, the victim managed to get hold of her cell phone and contacted Badagada police. On being informed, police rescued the girl and arrested Behera. Both were handed over to Jagatsinghpur police on Saturday. Jagatsinghpur IIC Rajani Kant Mishra a case was registered and police sent both the accused and the victim to the local hospital for medical examination. Behera was later arrested on charges of abduction and produced in court.