A day after being whisked away in a taxi from his Metiabruz residence by an armed gang, garment merchant Aminuddin Laskar surfaced in Ghatakpur, near the Calcutta leather complex, on Friday.

Mystery shrouds the manner in which the man, in his early 50s, reached Ghatakpur around 2 pm.

The sleuths probing the case declined to give a clear picture on whether or not he had paid a ransom.

About five years ago, Aminuddin had returned home on his own four days after he was abducted from Metiabruz.

?Aminuddin reached Ghatakpur on Friday afternoon from an unknown destination and boarded a private bus to reach Sealdah. From there, he came straight to district superintendent of police S.N. Gupta?s office in Alipore,? said a police officer.

Gupta said 12 persons from villages in South 24-Parganas had been detained in connection with the case.

According to police, one of the 12 arrested is a former employee of Aminuddin.

?We have got some specific leads. A probe is on to ascertain whether business rivalry had led to the kidnapping,? police superintendent Gupta said, adding that cops would interrogate Aminuddin in a couple of days.

Aminuddin?s younger brother, Maniruddin, denied having paid any ransom.

?We are happy that he has returned safe. But don?t ask if any ransom was paid for his release. We have been told to keep mum for the sake of the investigation,? he added.

Mursalin Mollah, local CPM legislator from Mahestala, said those detained by the police were all local goons who were involved in kidnappings in the area.