A 22-year-old businessman was abducted from outside a bar in Haridevpur on Friday night by a group of men who came riding a white Scorpio that had “police” written on it.
The incident took place around 10.30pm when Nitin Shaw was standing outside a bar at Kabardanga in Haridevpur on the city’s southern fringes.
The police tracked down the car and rescued the businessman within a few hours.
“We managed to intercept the car using inputs provided by a team that was carrying out electronic surveillance. The victim was rescued and three were arrested. The SUV has been seized,” an officer said. “Two others managed to escape. We are on the lookout for these two.”
Shaw belonged to a business family. He hailed from Julpia in Bishnupur, South 24-Parganas. The 22-year-old was actively involved in the family’s business and his father called the shots, the police said.
CCTV footage obtained by the police show that five men, including the SUV’s driver, stopped in front of Shaw, who was then standing outside the bar, a police officer said.
The place looked deserted.
A row of cars and a two-wheeler were outside the bar when the white Scorpio pulled up in front of Shaw.
The police said the footage showed that two men stepped out of the Scorpio, held Shaw at gunpoint and dragged him into the car.
A man, possibly a bystander, was seen running away after witnessing the incident.
With Shaw inside, the Scorpio left the spot.
“Since the car had a ‘police’ sticker stuck on its windshield, one of those whom we spoke to did not realise it was a case of abduction. The abductors demanded Rs 20 lakh ransom,” said an officer of Haridevpur police station.
Seven minutes after the SUV left the spot, the police received an intimation that a police team had picked up a man from outside the bar in Kabardanga.
An initial inquiry suggested that the man was abducted since no police vehicle was on the night patrol in that part of Haridevpur.
Three separate teams were set up and they were handed over the SUV’s registration number.
Each of the teams left for different areas within the jurisdiction of the police
station and senior officers of the division were kept in the loop about the developments.
The police said Shaw was a regular at the bar in Kabardanga and used to live in an apartment in Azadgarh in the Regent Park area.
The abductors had tracked him closely for some time before deciding on the spot from where he would be abducted, an officer said.
“The motive remains unknown as of now. It could be a case of business rivalry. We will speak to Shaw and his family members to find out more,” the officer said.
The three arrested were identified as Biplab Patra, Ashoke Majhi and Arunagshu Das, all from parts of Haridevpur and its adjoining areas.
A case of kidnapping for ransom and pretending to be a government official has been drawn up against the five.