Keonjhar: District police arrested seven persons on Saturday in connection with the abduction of Nimananda Pradhan, vice-president of a mines and minerals company in Barbil, including Pradhan’s driver, MD Feroz (50).
Apart from Feroz, the other arrested individuals are Sarfaraz Ansari (45), Budhendranath Singh (55), Rajendra Pashwaon (53), Jamil Akhter (48), Farha Parbin (50), and Sadab Naubahar (46).The police recovered Rs 50.9 lakh in cash, a toy gun, a motorcycle, eight mobile phones, a car, and the identity cards of the accused. SP Nitin Kushalkar shared these details while addressing the media at the district police headquarters on Saturday in the presence of Rourkela DIG Brijesh Kumar Rai and other police officials.
Police suspect that MD Feroz orchestrated the kidnapping with the assistance of SK Sahdab from Jharkhand, who is believed to be the head of the kidnapping gang. During interrogation, Feroz confessed to his role in the abduction. Efforts to apprehend Sahdab are ongoing, police said.
According to sources, Sujatha Pradhan, Nimananda’s wife, lodged a complaint at Barbil police station on Feb 13 after her husband did not return home from work on Feb 12. She suspected driver MD Feroz’s involvement, as he was driving in place of the usual driver, Akash.
Feroz revealed that on Feb 11, he had given drug-laced sweets to his fellow drivers, rendering them unconscious. On Feb 12, at around 7.15 pm, Nimananda was abducted at gunpoint by Sahdab’s gang. To mislead investigators, the kidnappers assaulted Feroz in front of Nimananda and later injected the victim with drugs to render him unconscious before taking him to Ranchi
Through online communication, Sahdab’s gang demanded Rs 2 crore for Nimananda’s release, but his family ultimately paid Rs 60 lakh.