BERHAMPUR: Police on Sunday rescued a businessman within 18 hours after he was reportedly kidnapped by a group of miscreants from Balugaon in Khurda district.
Five miscreants, including the mastermind, reportedly an engineer, were also arrested on charges of kidnapping businessman Sushil Subudhi, said police. The accused are mastermind Suraj Dora, Muna Behera, Abhijit Patnaik, all from Ganjam, besides Chandan Jena and Dharmaraj Palei of Khurda.
Police sources said Subudhi was kidnapped in a car from Patana Street when he was returning home on a scooter after closing his shop at Balugaon late in the night on Saturday. The abductors also took away his two-wheeler and Rs 20 lakh cash which he was reportedly carrying with him. When Subudhi did not return home, his wife lodged a complaint with the Balugaon police. Acting on the complaint, police swung into action and found Subudhi in the Chandapur area of Nayagarh district.
Investigation revealed that the five accused abducted Subudhi in a car and also took his scooter and cash bag. They parked the two-wheeler on the outskirts of Balugaon and drove towards Bhubaneswar on NH-16. They later dropped Sushil near Chandapur.
In the meantime, police had set up a checkpoint on NH-16 after getting information about the kidnapping. On spotting the cops, the accused stopped their car and tried to flee. However, a team of police saw the accused running and nabbed them after a chase. Police seized the car and also recovered the cash bag containing Rs 6.25 lakh from Dora.