The kidnapped doctor couple from Gaya in Bihar returned home safely on Wednesday and the police claimed they had arrested nine criminals involved in the sensational abduction case. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had taken the case as a “challenge” and was monitoring the rescue operation.
Leading Gaya based doctor Pankaj Kumar Gupta and his entrepreneur wife Shubhra Gupta were abducted on May 1 as they were retuning from Giridih in neighbouring Jharkhand after attending a relative’s wedding.
Dr. Gupta comes from a prominent business family of Gaya town and his kidnapping had kept the government on its toe for five days.
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The Opposition BJP leaders visited his residence and had even shown black flags to Chief Minister in Bodh Gaya, demanding immediate rescue of the doctor couple. They also took on Mr Kumar alleging “Jungle Raj-2” had returned to Bihar.
Various associations of doctors too had threatened to halt medical services in the state if Dr Gupta and his wife were not rescued within a timeframe.
U.P. police assistanceADVERTISEMENT
Mr. Kumar even transferred 17 IPS officers, including the Gaya police chief, on Tuesday to streamline the law and order situation in the state. “He talked to U.P. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav regarding this case and with the help of the U.P. police we finally zeroed in on the gang involved in the kidnapping,” State police chief P.K. Thakur told journalists. Mr. Thakur said that mounting police pressure forced the kidnappers to release the doctor couple on Wednesday morning. They reached home by train.
“We’ve arrested nine criminals, including the gang leader Ajay Singh, involved in the case from Gomti Nagar in Lucknow”, said the police chief.
According to the police official, the kidnapped doctor couple was kept at an apartment in Gomti Nagar area of Lucknow. Along with three luxury vehicles, including the one belonging to the doctor, police uniforms, beacon lights, a foreign make weapon, Ms. Gupta’s purse and her gold chain too were recovered from the flat, police said.
“The same gang was involved in a few other kidnappings from the State and we’d kept them on surveillance for some days. With the help of the U.P. police, we surrounded the Sharda apartment in Lucknow on Wednesday morning and arrested the gang members”, Mr. Thakur said.