A 34-year-old poultry farm owner abducted in Malda for money was rescued within 24 hours by the police on Tuesday early morning.

The police have also detained 10 persons allegedly involved in the crime.

Sources said Farooq Momin, who owns a poultry farm at Chowki-Mirdadpur under Manikchak police station of the district, was kidnapped on December 26 night.

“He was sleeping at a room in his farm when the gang broke into his property and before he could react, they held him at gunpoint and took him away,” said Kunal Das, the officer-in-charge of Manikchak police station.

On Monday, Ekramul, Farooq’s elder brother, filed a police complaint.

By then, Farooq’s family members started receiving calls from various phone numbers demanding cash for his release.

Police formed a special team to investigate the kidnap. The cell phone numbers, from which abductors had called, were put under tracking.

After some hours, the team could intercept three persons from Amriti, a locality under Englishbazar police station.

“During interrogation, they admitted the victim has been taken to Alipur, a locality in Kaliachak police station. We contacted police officials of Mothabati and Kaliachak police stations and a joint rescue operation was planned. Eventually, the poultry farm owner was rescued at a hideout in Alipur,” added Das.

During the raid, seven others were detained.

Sources said that the police team was in plainclothes. The ransom money was kept ready to allure kidnappers. “However, the operation was successful without firing or bloodshed,” said a senior police officer.

Alok Rajoria, the SP of Malda, appreciated the team.

“They (the team) have performed a commendable rescue operation. The victim has been freed and the suspected kidnappers have been detained within 24 hours. It is the smooth coordination among different police stations that helped us,” Rajoria said.