A resident of the Lake area who had gone to Puri was allegedly kidnapped for ransom by a group of men and kept in a hideout in Habra, North 24-Parganas. The group demanded ₹14 lakh ransom from the family, police said.
Based on a complaint by the victim’s family at Rabindra Sarobar police station, the police launched a search and tracked down the man to Habra. He was rescued on Thursday.
The police said the kidnapping was because of an old dispute over an unsettled loan the man had taken.
Kaushik Lahiri, 51, a resident of Gariahat Road, is said to have taken ₹14 lakh from Chharur Ahmed Baiddya alias Hiru, 34, on loan in 2023, the police said. Lahiri is an employee of a private insurance company.
“However, Lahiri apparently failed to repay the loan and over time, stopped responding to Hiru's phone calls,” said an officer of Rabindra Sarobar police station.
Recently, Hiru learned that Lahiri was visiting Puri.
He went to Puri with a group of men, allegedly abducted Lahiri in a car and brought him to his Habra home. This gang allegedly demanded ₹14 lakh from Lahiri’s family.
The car in which Lahiri was allegedly abducted was seized in front of a bank in the Lake Gardens area, the police said.
The police have arrested Hiru and his alleged accomplice Mithun Baiddya from Habra, about 60km from Lake Gardens in south Calcutta.
Another accused, who is a resident of Jodhpur Gardens, is missing, the police said. This man had allegedly shared information about Lahiri’s visit to Puri with Hiru.
Senior police officers said even if Lahiri was not repaying the loan, the men should not have taken the law into their own hands.
“In such cases, one should seek help from the law and report to the police,” said an officer of the detective department of Kolkata Police.