Kidnapped bank manager rescued from Balasore, two held

CUTTACK: Madhupatna police has rescued a relationship manager of a private bank who was allegedly kidnapped and arrested two persons in connection with the case on Sunday.

The arrested duo has been identified as Rama Chandra Das (23) of Basta and Rajkumar Sahu (22) of Singla, both in Balasore district.

According to police, Manoj Kumar Sahu, a relationship manager with Axis Bank’s Jagatpur branch, had gone missing three days ago. Manoj, who hails from Gop area in Puri district, was staying in Darkha Patna under Madhupatna police station.

On Thursday, Manoj’s wife Mamata Sahu lodged a complaint in Madhupatna police station stating that her husband had gone missing. The police then checked the phone location and found that Manoj was in Balasore.

From the next day, Manoj’s wife Mamata started receiving calls from unknown persons who allegedly demanded ransom of `10 lakh for release of her husband. She then informed the matter to the police.

On the basis of his location information, Madhupatna police with assistance of their Balasore counterparts rescued Manoj from Balasore and managed to arrest two of the abductors.

Police investigation revealed that Manoj had opened accounts in the name of some youths from Balasore assuring them to provide loans for their business. However, instead of providing loan, Manoj had allegedly handed over their accounts to some fraudsters.

The youths then started receiving several letters mentioning that there was a lot of debt in their accounts. Their accounts also reflected several illegal transactions.

After receiving the letters, they asked Manoj to resolve the issue immediately. However, Manoj allegedly delayed the matter, following which the youths faced various legal complications. “The youths then travelled to Cuttack in a car three days ago and called Manoj to a location on the pretext of meeting him. When he arrived, they allegedly forced him into the car and took him to Balasore,” a senior police officer said.

Some other youths are also suspected to be involved in the kidnapping, the officer said.

Further investigation is underway to ascertain the circumstances of the case, including how the alleged fraudsters were allowed to operate the bank accounts, he added.