Hyderabad trader kidnapped from Patna bus stand

PATNA: A Hyderabad-based contractor was allegedly kidnapped from the Meethapur bus stand in Patna on November 6 evening when he was on way to his home at Muzaffarpur to celebrate Diwali and Chhath with family.

The matter came to light after an FIR was lodged in this connection on Friday night.

A labour contractor who supplies labour to various firms in Hyderabad, Ashok Sah, in his late 40s, had reached Patna by a train on November 6. City SP (east) Rajendra Kumar Bheel said Sah had a conversation with his wife over the cellphone after he got down from the train that he was about to board a bus at Meethapur for Muzaffarpur.

“Sah went incommunicado after that. When his family members tried to call him, his cellphone was switched off. On November 7, the family approached the Jakkanpur police station in Patna and suspected his kidnapping,” Bheel said.

Initial investigations have revealed a sum of Rs 2 lakh has been withdrawn and jewellery worth Rs 1.5 lakh purchased from a shop at Biharsharif using Sah’s debit card after he became incommunicado, Bheel said.

Police suspect someone known to Sah had taken him from the bus stand to an unknown location where he might have been overpowered. “It is impossible that someone will forcefully or at gunpoint kidnap someone from a crowded bus stand,” Bheel said.

Police have collected CCTV footage from several locations. Further investigations are on, Bheel said.