Pune businessman abducted, murdered in Bihar; 7 held

Patna/Pune: The Bihar Police have arrested seven persons, including a woman, in connection with the abduction and murder of a Pune-based businessman after he landed at Patna airport, a senior official said.

Laxman Sadhu Shinde's body was found in Bihar's Jehanabad district on Tuesday. He landed at the Patna airport on April 11.

The kingpin of the gang that executed the kidnapping and murder has also been arrested, the official said, adding four others have been detained for questioning.

The arrested persons have been identified as Ranjit Patel alias Munna, Vipatara Kumar, Lalbihari, Vikas alias Mohit, Kundan Kumar, Sangita Kumari and Sachin Ranjan.

Police, however, did not identify the detained persons and the kingpin, who has been sent to judicial custody.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Awkash Kumar said, "Police received a complaint from the family members of the Pune-based businessman stating that they were not able to contact him after he landed at Patna airport."

"Based on findings of the preliminary investigation and scrutiny of the CCTV footage, police registered a case of kidnapping and constituted a special team to nab the accused. Police recovered from Vaishali the vehicle used in kidnapping the businessman and also took the owner of the vehicle into custody," he said.

During custodial interrogation, the vehicle owner, Vipatra Kumar, revealed the identity of the others.

Later, police nabbed 11 persons involved in the case from Nawada, Gaya, Nalanda and Vaishali districts, the SSP said, adding that seven were arrested and four were being examined by the police.

Investigation suggested that the accused belonged to a gang of inter-state criminals who extorted money from people and also demanded ransom for the release of kidnapped persons, he said.

They were also involved in several cases of kidnapping and murder in Jharkhand, Gujarat, Karnataka and other places, the SSP said.

The accused had demanded a ransom and received around Rs 90,000 from the family members of the Pune-based businessman.

However, they killed him as the entire amount was not paid to them and dumped the body in Ghosi area of Jehanabad district, the SSP said, adding further investigation was underway.

Another police officer said some of the arrested accused were cybercriminals as well.

According to the sources in Pune Police, Shinde was lured to Patna through a seemingly genuine business enquiry via email, offering him a potential high-value order in crores related to mining equipment for operations in Jharkhand.

Shinde, the owner of Centrifugal Casting Bearing, located at Khedshivapur in Pune, travelled to Patna by a flight on April 11.

However, after sending a message to his daughter around 8.30 pm, in which he mentioned heading to Jharkhand, no further communication was established.

Sambhaji Kadam, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone III), Pune, said when the family couldn't contact Shinde, they filed a missing person complaint on April 12 at the Kothrud police station in the city.

"A team of Pune Police was subsequently dispatched to Patna to investigate. With the assistance of local police, it was determined that Shinde was abducted outside Patna airport," Kadam added.