2 cabbies held for kidnap

KOLKATA: The wife of Sandipan Das, the software techie who was abducted from Rajarhat New Town on Friday night, gave police their first major clue in the case. She memorised the registration number of the taxi that took her to the ransom drop-off point, which led police to arrest two cabbies who were part of a new gang of kidnappers.
Twenty-eight-year-old Md Ahesan had allegedly ferried Das to a hideout in Dakshineswar where he was kept hostage.And 26-year-old Ash Md drove a member of the gang to a rendezvous with the Das's family on Delhi Road for the ransom. They were both arrested from Baranagar in North 24-Parganas 72 hours into the abduction.
"We have arrested two cabbies who have some link with this case," said Siddhinath Gupta, DIG (Presidency Range). Their vehicles have been seized. "They were both involved in the abduction. You can call them members of the gang," said an investigator.
The duo was produced in Barasat court and remanded in 14 days judicial custody. After interrogating the duo, police have pieced together a reconstruction of the crime. According to police, both Ahesan and Ash were regulars on the Rajarhat-New Town area since this year and BT Road was their usual route.
On Friday evening, Sandipan had taken the taxi WB04A/0975 in front of the DLF Building. A little later, the driver, Md Aheshan, complained of a technical problem and stopped the car in a deserted area near the Wipro crossing on Salt Lake Bypass. Three abductors, who were lying in wait, muscled into the taxi and overpowered Sandipan as Ahesan drove off to a hideout in Dakshineswar.
The abduction sent shockwaves through the city. Police took it as a high priority case but had few clues to go on initially. The family started receiving calls for ransom. Against the police's advice, the techie's kin decided to pay up.
Sandipan's wife Rimi and uncle Debu Das agreed to go to a drop-off point. After moving around at least four locations, as per as the abductors' instructions, they were told to pull up at a deserted place on Delhi Road at 1.15 pm on Sunday. According to police, Ash drove a gang member to the spot in his taxi.
Rimi handed over the money and earnestly pleaded with the kidnapper to free her husband. "It was a tense moment for them. The abductors, who came to received the ransom, asked the family to trust them'. They promised to free Sandipan within the hour. But it took four and half hours for Das to return to him home in Kasba," said the family's lawyer Saikat Dutta Majumder.
Rimi had quietly taken down the registration number of the taxi and gave it to police. Ash was tracked down and taken into custody.
A police officer said both taxi drivers were part of the conspiracy and they know the other gang members very well. Under interrogation, they have given police vital information on the abductors, he said. "This gang operates in Kamarhati in North 24-Parganas. They were not known for abduction. Rather, they were blacklisted for burglaries and dacoities in daylight. We suspect they could be involved in two-three unsolved kidnappings in Sector V and Rajarhat," said an investigator.