Odisha trader, abducted from Jharkhand, recovered in Bihar

A prominent trader of Odisha, who was way-laid and kidnapped at Giridih in Jharkhand on August 23, has been recovered from Bihar’s Bhojpur district.

The businessman, Dr Manas Ranjan Das, was travelling in his Mercedes car bearing registration number OR-09/9999 while on way to his hometown Hajipur in Bihar’s Vaishali district when he and his associates were reportedly abducted from Giridih. The car of the trader, who is a veterinary doctor, besides running a poultry feed processing unit, was recovered by Jharkhand police from GT Road.

The recovery of the trader, who has a business interest in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, was as mysterious as his kidnapping. The Bhojpur police on Tuesday evening informed his family members in Dhanbad that Dr Das had been recovered from Koelwar near Ara.

Family members of the abducted businessman, who had earlier claimed that the kidnappers demanded Rs 5 crore for his safe release, said, “We will not reveal how we got information about his safe release.”

Earlier, an investigation into the kidnapping case made the Jharkhand police scan CCTV footage at two toll plaza on the GT Road. “Das and his associates were found to be bundled into two vehicles written ‘police’and taken to an undisclosed location by ‘men in uniform’,” said the source. The relieved family members are now on way to Bhojpur to meet Dr Das.