Bhubaneswar: Police have rescued four persons, including a young man working for a financial firm in Delhi, from a forested area at Chikiti in Odisha’s Ganjam district where they were kept hostage after allegedly being kidnapped.
According to sources, the abductors had confined the four to a house in the backyard of one Nutana Patra and reportedly threatened them with a cobra over Rs 2 crore ransom demand. The matter came to light after one of the abducted youths managed to escape by scaling the wall of the house and raised an alarm at the local tehsildar office, which was about 200 metres away.
Following which, the Tehsildar coordinated with Nuagaon police, who then rescued the remaining three hostages.
“A youth somehow managed to escape and reached our campus. He was losing his senses while speaking to us. He looked terrified and pleaded with us to save them,” Chikiti Tehsildar told the media.
Speaking to the media, Berhampur SP Saravana Vivek on Monday said that one person has been detained in connection with the abduction incident. “The accused maybe five in number had brought the victims from Bhubaneswar in a vehicle and demanded Rs 2 crore ransom to release them. They were beaten up by the kidnapper and threatened with a cobra. An FIR had been lodged for ransom demand and attempt to murder charges. The forest department has also lodged a case under cruelty against animal and Wild Life (Protection) Act,” he said.
The SP further stated that the man from Delhi working in a financial company, had come to Odisha to sanction a loan to a man in Berhampur. He was accompanied by one person from Bhubaneswar and two others from Cuttack in Odisha.
Sources said an injured cobra was also recused from the spot.
