Mohammed Khalid (21) was arrested on Tuesday in Asansol, while Sadab Siddiqui (24) was picked up from the Dum Dum airport’s domestic terminal on Wednesday. A part of the ransom—Rs 23 lakh — was also recovered from a flat in Bangur and the investigators are currently looking for the remaining sum.
“Siddiqui was travelling under the false name of S Singh. We’re not sure if Siddiqui is his real name. Khalid, it seems, had the responsibility of guarding Buchasia while in captivity,” said Rajeev Kumar, Special Inspector-General of Police (Operations).
According to Kumar, Khalid joined hands with Siddiqui since he had a debt of Rs 1.5 lakh but was paid only Rs 5,000 to go to Purulia via Asansol. Siddiqui had promised Khalid of crediting his share of money into the latter’s bank account, Kumar added.
During interrogation, Siddiqui revealed that seven months ago, he had befriended Buchasia, a coal merchant, using the alias of Aman. “Siddiqui was operating out of two flats, one in Bangur Avenue where he stayed with a woman named Nidhi Singh, and another in Metiabruz. The Bangur flat is in the name of one A Singh, a cloth merchant. We are looking for both Singh and Nidhi,” Kumar said.
The CID now suspects the involvement of Bihar or Jharkhand-based gangs behind the abduction.
After Buchasia (48) was abducted on March 8 while he was returning from office, his brother Saran lodged a complaint with the Shibpur police station the same evening.
Later that night, Buchasia’s wife Bela received a phone call from the kidnappers demanding Rs 1.5 crore as ransom. The kidnappers even threatened to kill Buchasia.
Following this, the CID took up the case and convinced Buchasia’s family to go ahead with negotiations with the abductors.
On March 12, the kidnappers asked Buchasia’s family to leave the first instalment of Rs 15 lakh in the luggage compartment of a motorcycle parked at a secluded spot near Kolkata airport. “However, they (kidnappers) got nervous and didn’t turn up to collect the money. They called again and asked that the entire amount be paid at one go. Buchasia’s family said they were unable to arrange for more than Rs 40 lakh, an amount to which the kidnappers agreed,” Kumar said.
The family members were then asked to pack the ransom in a locked travelling bag and to take a local train out of Howrah on March 13. “They were instructed to throw the bag from the running train at a spot after crossing Santragachi railway station. This is where we got suspicious that Bihar-based gangs were behind it as this method of ransom payment is a common modus operandi in most kidnapping cases in Bihar and Jharkhand,” Kumar said.
Following the payment, Buchasia returned home. The CID tracked Khalid to Asansol and arrested him there on March 18. His interrogation revealed that Siddiqui was to take a flight to Jaipur on March 19.