Bhubaneswar: Five persons, including the reported mastermind an engineer, have been arrested on charges of kidnapping a businessman from Balugaon in Odisha’s Khurda district.
The accused have been identified as Suraj Dora, Muna Behera, Abhijit Patnaik, all natives of Ganjam, and Chandan Jena and Dharmaraj Palei of Khurda.
The businessman, Sushil Subudhi, was also rescued within 18 hours of his alleged kidnapping from Patana Street while he was returning home on a scooter after closing his shop at Balugaon late on Saturday.
The five accused also took away Rs 20 lakh cash which he was reportedly carrying with him and parked the two-wheeler on the outskirts of Balugaon before driving towards Bhubaneswar on NH-16. They later dropped Sushil near Chandapur area of Nayagarh district.
Police sprung into action after his wife lodged a complaint and rescued Subudhi from Chandapur. The accused were later chased and caught while attempting to flee a checkpoint put up on NH-16. The car and a cash bag containing Rs 6.25 lakh were seized from them.