Delhi-based duo Kapil and Suresh Sharma were lured by free air tickets and a multi-crore business deal
It seemed too good to be true. A promise of free air tickets and a multi-crore business deal should have made Kapil Sharma suspicious. But the Delhi-based businessman, who runs a family marble business took it all in his stride. Along with his brother Suresh and free air tickets, Kapil Sharma happily landed in Patna from Delhi. But that happiness soon ended when the brothers were kidnapped at Patna's Jayaprakash Narayan International airport by henchmen of the Ranjit Don alias Ranjit Mandal gang. The duo are free now.
On October 21, panic ran riot in Sharma's Delhi home. Amit Sharma, Kapil's cousin, recounted the ordeal to DNA. When asked just how the family could have put their trust in people they barely knew, he said, "The kidnappers had first contacted them (Suresh and Kapil) some seven to 10 days ago. They dropped the name of a common acquaintance and they talked on the phone about seven to eight times. Our mistake was that we never checked with our acquaintance whether they knew the callers or trusted them."
This lack of verification check proved costly, and the family says that they started receiving ransom calls for Rs 4 crore. The kidnappers had every reason to feel secure. The brothers had been taken into the hilly jungles of Kajra forest area in Lakhisarai district. They were rescued early on Wednesday morning. The Kajra forest is a Maoist infested area and the gang—who are not Naxals—were using the fear of Maoists to get the ransom as soon as possible.
However, a special investigation team was at work to rescue the brothers. And on Wednesday morning, the brothers were rescued after a gunbattle. Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj said. "Acting on some specific intelligence, a joint team of Patna police, Lakhirasai police and CRPF conducted raids in Kajra forests in Lakhisarai and were able to rescue the victims. The police team had to hike several kilometres and also exchanged fire in self defence to rescue the Sharma brothers."
The brothers said that the kidnappers kept them drugged most of the time and were barely given any food. "The kidnappers were in constant touch with my relatives our rescue. The police have arrested five people in this connection.
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