Techie abducted on way home from New Town

KOLKATA: A 34-year-old software engineer was abducted on his way back from office at Rajarhat New Town on Friday night, sending jitters through the 24x7 sector.
Two hours later, his family in Kasba got a call demanding Rs 25 lakh as ransom for his release. The family negotiated with the abductors through Saturday and agreed on a deal, but till late night the kidnappers had not specified the time and place of his release.
Sandipan Das, assistant manager with a reputed IT firm, had taken a taxi from outside office around 8 pm. A friend, Saurav, saw him off. At 9.30 pm, Sandipan’s father Samiran — a retired bank employee — got a call from Sandipan’s mobile but the caller, who spoke in Hindi, told him his son was in their custody. He demanded Rs 25 lakh and told Samiran he would get another call in an hour specifying the time and place of the handover.
The call came an hour and a half later. This time Sandipan was made to speak. The abductors warned the family not to approach police. But the family wasn’t convinced. They lodged a complaint at New Town police but went ahead with negotiations. Samiran took the lead, aided by a lawyer, and scaled down the ransom to Rs 20 lakh.
Police said the abductors initially named a place along the EM Bypass where the cash was to be handed over. But they changed their mind and asked the family to wait for another call.