Police rescue abducted coach attendant, arrest 5

Patna: Patna police rescued Rakesh Kumar, the abducted coach attendant of the Hatia-Patna Patliputra Express (18623), from the Barh area late Friday night. The mission also led to the arrest of five suspects linked to liquor smuggling. They were identified as Abhisekh Kumar, Mukesh Kumar and Akhilesh Kumar of Barh, Kundan Yadav of Belchi and Sonu Yaduvanshi of Sheikhpura.Superintendent of railway police (SRP) Patna, Amritendu Shekhar Thakur, said on Saturday that Kumar had been abducted by members of a liquor smuggling network. Acting swiftly, Patna police formed a special investigation team under DSP Mukul Parimal Pandey with cooperation from the GRP, RPF and local police.The Barh and Mokama regions were cordoned off within hours of the incident. Although no formal FIR was lodged at the outset, police launched a massive search to trace Kumar and arrest the abductors, Thakur said.During interrogation, the arrested men confessed they blamed Kumar for a recent police seizure of their liquor consignment at Simultala in Jamui. In retaliation, they abducted him and initially demanded a ransom of Rs 1.5 lakh. A deal was later struck for Rs 20,000. According to Thakur, Rs 9,000 was transferred digitally by a railway supervisor and Rs 5,000 by Kumar’s cousin. After receiving the payment, the gang released him near Barh station late Friday night.Kumar, who was attempting to return to his home in Chittaranjan, was located by police teams at Barh station. More than 150 police personnel were involved in the rescue. Two country-made pistols and live cartridges were seized during raids at the suspects’ hideouts in Barh, Thakur said, adding that investigations were continuing to uncover the extent of the smuggling network.Bakhtiyarpur RPF inspector Jawahar Lall, part of the operation, said the gang was also involved in motorcycle theft. Police also recovered 22.750 litres of foreign liquor, a laptop and four touchscreen mobile phones during raids under Laheria Pokhar police station in Barh.