Engineer kidnapped in Saharsa, Rs15 lakh ransom sought

PATNA: The abductors of a 35-year-old junior engineer, Mukesh Kumar Bharti, who was kidnapped from Sour Bazar police station area in Saharsa district late on Tuesday evening, have demanded Rs15 lakh as ransom for his safe release.
Bharti, who works with the central government’s MNREGA scheme, was kidnapped while returning home on a two-wheeler. The bike was found near the canal between Samda and Bakhri villages.The victim’s father Phuleshwar Sah received two calls from the abductors demanding Rs 15 lakh as ransom for his release. Sah immediately informed the police.
The SHO of Sour Bazar police station Jaishankar Prasad said the junior engineer had left his office around 5 am for his village Sakrauli under Simri Bakhtiyarpur police station on his two-wheeler. The incident came to light when the alleged abductors contacted the family for ransom around 7 pm.
Earlier, the Saharsa district programme officer of MNREGA Rajni Kant Singh said the victim’s father informed him over the phone about the incident. “I shared the information with the senior officers of the department,” he told media persons in Saharsa.
The victim’s wife Jyoti Kumar told the police officers that Bharti had a verbal duel with a representative of the local panchayat over some official work. The family members have sought the intervention of the senior police officers for the safe recovery of the abducted engineer.
Investigating officers said the abductors used the victim’s cellular phone to contact the family for the ransom money. They also threatened the family with dire consequences if they reported the matter to the police, an investigating officer said.
Saharsa SP Rakesh Kumar said that a special investigation team (SIT) headed by Sadar SDPO Santosh Kumar to trace the captive and arrest the criminals involved in the crime.
The SHO Jaishankar said that some suspects are being interrogated. “Raids are on to get the captive released from the clutches of his kidnappers at the earliest,” he told this newspaper over the phone on Tuesday.
He, however, said the incident was the fallout of a dispute over contracts under the MNREGA scheme. “We hope to solve the case within 24 hours as we have zeroed in on the gang involved in the incident,” he added.