Trader kidnapped from MP found in Bihar, five arrested

A trader kidnapped from Madhya Pradesh more than a month ago was on Saturday rescued from Muzaffarpur in Bihar and five persons were arrested from two districts in this connection.

In Rohtas district, police also seized Rs 40 lakh in cash hurled from a moving train by the trader's family members as ransom demanded by the abductors.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarpur, Harpreet Kaur said Sant Bahadur alias Lala, a resident of Sidhi district, was rescued during a raid conducted in Baruraj police station area of the district.

Three persons, Ankit Sharma and Ajit Singh, both residents of Nawada district, and Baruraj resident Shehlan Raza - at whose house the abducted trader was kept - were arrested from the spot, the SSP said.

Some firearms, ammunition and fake police uniforms have also been seized from the spot, she said.

Superintendent of Police, Rohtas, Satyaveer Singh told reporters in Dehri on Sone that he had received information from the Superintendent of Police of Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh that the abducted trader's family members had been asked to drop a bag containing the ransom amount from the Howrah-Mumbai mail between Mohania and Kudra stations.

Accordingly, a team of police personnel boarded the train and upon noticing that a bag has been thrown out, they pulled the chain and got down and noticed that the ransom money had been picked up by two persons riding a motorcycle.

The policemen alerted a toll plaza nearby where the duo - Balindar Kumar and Narayan Sohar - were nabbed along with the cash, the Rohtas SP said adding that during interrogation they disclosed the spot in Muzaffarpur where Lala had been kept.

"The Muzaffarpur police was informed accordingly," Singh said adding that Balindar hailed from Aurangabad district, was wanted in a dacoity case in Rewa and Madhya Pradesh police had announced a reward of Rs one lakh on his head.

Narayan Sohar hailed from Indore, a release issued by the DGP office in Patna said.