Men dressed in army uniform kidnap four in Kolkata, demand Rs 200 cr

Kolkata, June 26 (IANS) A group of men in Army uniform allegedly kidnapped four persons travelling in a car in Kolkata on Wednesday afternoon and demanded a ransom of Rs 200 crore from them, a senior officer of Kolkata Police said.

The kidnappers, however, released the victims and fled after one of their gang members was arrested by the police as he came to the victims' office to collect the money, police said.

The incident of kidnapping took place at around noon near Jhinjhirabazar in south 24 Parganas district's Batanagar.

"About nine persons, dressed in Army uniforms, came in two cars and intercepted the vehicle of one Arindam Dhar and three of his office staff near Jhinjhirabazar and kidnapped them. They demanded a ransom of Rs 200 crore and opened fire at the victims when they refused to pay up," Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police (south) Miraz Khalid told IANS.

"Four accused then took Dhar to his office in south Kolkata's New Alipore to collect the demanded money while the other members of the gang left with the rest of the victims towards an undisclosed location in an SUV", the officer said.

However, when Dhar refused to give the money after reaching office, the kidnappers opened fire at him, injuring his leg and tried to run away from the spot.

"Police caught one of the miscreants named Sanjay Roy alias Lebu Sanjay (32) from near Dhar's office and later apprehended three more persons after checking CCTV footage and interrogating Dhar about the incident," Khalid said.

Following the arrests, the fellow kidnappers released the three other victims -- Md fazloor rahman, Nitesh Singh and Rahul Das near CSTC garage in Taratala. Raids are on to catch the rest of the accused," he added.