Bhubaneswar, January 27: In a dramatic rescue operation, Berhampur Police has successfully freed four individuals, including a finance company agent from New Delhi, who had been kidnapped for a ransom of Rs 2 crore. The victims were found in an abandoned house in the Chikiti area of Ganjam district.
The police said that the kidnappers had been using a chilling method to threaten the victims, claiming they would be killed by snakebite. Authorities found three snakes at the crime scene during the rescue.
One of the kidnappers, identified as Pruthibiraj Sahu from the K. Nuagaon area in Ganjam, was apprehended by the police while rescuing the victims. A case has been registered following a complaint from one of the victims, Amarjit Samanta Singhara (24), a resident of Pahala in Bhubaneswar.
According to police reports, Sahu and his accomplices had devised a plan to lure the victims, including Singhara, a finance agent named Rabindra Kumar from Delhi, and two others from Cuttack, to Berhampur on January 23. They had promised financial assistance for a project by a company called Foreminix Ind. Pvt. Ltd.
Upon arrival in Berhampur, the victims were taken to Golanthara by two vehicles and held captive in a building, where the kidnappers demanded Rs 2 crore. The victims were threatened with death if the ransom was not paid.
The captors also physically assaulted the victims during their confinement, before moving them to a forest area in Kerandimal Jungle, Chikiti. The kidnappers further threatened that the victims would not be released until the ransom was paid.
On the morning of January 26, Singhara managed to escape and rushed to the Chikiti Tahasil Office, where he reported the incident to the staff. Upon receiving this information, the K. Nuagaon police arrived at the Tahasil Office and rescued Singhara.
The police then tracked down the victims’ confinement location, where the remaining hostages were freed. During the operation, three snakes used by the kidnappers to intimidate the victims were also recovered. The forest department has been notified to take legal action regarding the possession of the snakes.
