West Bengal Bidhannagar City Police on Sunday busted an international kidnapping racket near the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport in Kolkata and arrested three masterminds.
The police in a joint operation with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel rescued 20 youths from NSCBI Airport, before being trafficked out.
The three arrested persons have been identified as Suresh Sinha, Rakesh Prasad Sinha and Dhiraj Das.
It is learnt that on September 16, one Naresh Kumar, an original resident of Haryana, filed a complaint at the NSCBI Airport police station that his son, Rahul Kumar, was missing since August 28 after reaching Kolkata. Kumar informed the police that his son was trapped by a fake international employment agency, who lured him with a lucrative job offer in the US.
Rahul was asked to come to Kolkata to complete the formalities on this count and thereafter he was kidnapped, his father claimed. Bidhannagar City Police sources said that thereafter the kidnappers asked a ransom of Rs 49 lakh from Naresh Kumar, out of which he also paid Rs 40 lakh.
The sleuths of Bidhannagar City Police started investigating and were informed by sources that three masterminds of the kidnapping racket were attempting to escape out of the country through NSCBI Airport along with 20 youths, including Rahul Kumar.
The Bidhannagar City Police immediately contacted the commandant of the CISF battalion deputed at the NSCBI airport. A joint operation was launched in which three kingpins of the kidnapping racket were arrested and 20 youths rescued.
It is learnt that the kidnappers secured ransom from the families of all these youths rescued. "The accused used to earn money in two ways. First by demanding ransom for kidnapped youths. They used to collect huge amounts from the family members. And second, by trafficking the youths abroad and earning handsome amounts through that as well. We are trying to find out the past cases where they have been successful in trafficking the youths abroad," said a Bidhannagar City Police official.