Nanji Patel, a 45-year-old businessman from Rajkot, who was abducted in Kolkata by a local gang, was rescued by the Kolkata police on Sunday. He is expected to return home in a day or two.

The Rajkot police said Patel had been held captive in a village on the Bangladesh border for seven days.

“One of the abductors has been arrested while others reportedly fled during a raid by the Kolkata police,” said a senior police officer from Rajkot.

The police claim that the Patels had paid a ransom of Rs 5 lakh, and informed them only when the abductors stepped up the demand to Rs 10 lakh.

A case of abduction has now been registered with the Kolkota police, said the Rajkot police.

The Rajkot city police, through a fax a week ago, had alerted their counterparts in Kolkata about the abduction of Patel, who runs a bore-well business.

Patel, a resident of Sanidhya Society on the 150-feet Ring Road, was abducted on January 25, the day he landed in Kolkata for business.

Patel’s son Kailash told the Rajkot police that the abductors had called him on January 26 from his father’s cellphone, and had threatened to kill him if a ransom of Rs 5 lakh was not paid.

The Rajkot police learnt that Kailash, through an angadia service in Soni Bazar, had sent cash to Kolkota, which was received by one Arjun, reportedly a member of the gang.

While the family in Rajkot was hoping for Patel’s release, on January 27, Kailash again received a call from the abductors who claimed that the money was looted by some other gang. This time, they doubled their demand.

Kailash contacted the Rajkot police for help on January 29, who intimated the West Bengal Police, and Patel was finally rescued on Sunday.