International kidnapping racket busted in Kolkata, three arrested

Calcutta, Sep 25: Police in West Bengal’s Bidhannagar city busted an international kidnapping racket near the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBI) in Kolkata on Sunday and arrested three masterminds.

Police, in a joint operation with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, rescued 20 youths from NSCBI airport, before they were trafficked.

The three people arrested were identified as Suresh Sinha, Rakesh Prasad Sinha and Dhiraj Das.

It is learned that on September 16, a Naresh Kumar, an original resident of Haryana, filed a complaint at the NSCBI airport police station that his son, Rahul Kumar, had been missing since August 28 after reaching Kolkata. Kumar informed the police that his son was tricked by a bogus international employment agency, which lured him with a lucrative job offer in the United States.

Rahul was invited to come to Kolkata to complete the formalities on this charge and subsequently he was kidnapped, his father claimed. Bidhannagar city police sources said that afterwards the kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 49 lakh from Naresh Kumar out of which he also paid Rs 40 lakh.

Bidhannagar City Police Detectives started investigating and were told by sources that three kidnapping racketeer masterminds were trying to escape the country via NSCBI airport with 20 youths including Rahul Kumar.

Bidhannagar City Police immediately contacted the CISF Battalion Commander delegated at NSCBI Airport. A joint operation was launched in which three kingpins of the kidnapping racket were arrested and 20 young people rescued.

We learn that the kidnappers obtained a ransom from the families of all these rescued young people. “The defendant earned money in two ways. First by demanding a ransom for the young kidnapped. They used to collect huge sums from family members. And secondly, by trafficking young people abroad and also earning handsome sums. We are trying to find out the past cases where they have successfully trafficked young people abroad,” a Bidhannagar city police official said.