A man riding a motorbike along the Park Circus Connector was kidnapped early on Friday. Two of his neighbours were arrested on Saturday for being involved in the crime, police said.

Mohammad Nadim, 28, a resident of Tiljala Lane, was allegedly stopped while he was riding through the Park Circus Connector on his motorbike and dragged into a yellow taxi by some masked men at gunpoint, the police said.

Nadim’s family members have told the police that they had to pay Rs 3 lakh to secure his release.

The accused apparently thought that Nadim had amassed a fortune because he had recently purchased a motorbike and got his sister married in a relatively lavish way.

Police officers said this was an unusual case where a change in a man’s financial condition grabbed the attention of his neighbours who then planned to kidnap him.

A few weeks ago, a gang of men had similarly kidnapped a man from the EM Bypass after he had boarded the car thinking it was a shuttle taxi.

The man was robbed of his valuables and money.

However, in that case, the victim was not known to the gang members.

“But this is unusual when neighbours got jealous of a person’s finances and decided to kidnap him for ransom,” said an officer in Lalbazar.

Nadim, who works as a web designer, was released after one of his cousins gave the money to the kidnappers the same evening.

Later that night, Nadim lodged a complaint with the Pragati Maidan police station.

The police took Nadim to all the spots where he was taken by the kidnappers in the yellow taxi. From the spot where Nadim was kept hostage, police found a CCTV camera the footage from which revealed the number of the yellow taxi.

“After we located the owner of the yellow taxi we found that it had been sold to someone else. We then contacted the taxi’s new owner who helped us zero in on the man who was driving the taxi on the day of the crime,” said an officer of Pragati Maidan police station.

The accused were found to be two of Nadim’s neighbours, the police said.

They have been identified as Sohail Ali Khan alias Aman, 30, of Tiljala Lane and Sheikh Anwar Ali, alias Niyaz, 35, of Tiljala Masjid Bari Lane. Sohail was driving the taxi. Both have been arrested.

The police said they were investigating if more people were involved in the crime. The gun used in the crime is yet to be recovered.

Setu stunt: youth’s body found

The body of 21-year-old Mohammad Zakir Sardar was recovered from Doi Ghat on Saturday, six days after he had jumped off the Vidyasagar Setu into the river Hooghly. He had been recording a stunt video with a friend. Sardar, who was a resident of GJ Khan Road in Tiljala, had been missing since the incident on February 7. His body was identified by his relatives on Saturday evening.