Patna: A police team from Giridih in Jharkhand is all set to take the alleged kingpin of an interstate gang of kidnappers, Balinder Kumar alias Rajesh Singh, on remand to quiz him in connection with a high profile case.

Balinder and his associate Narayan Lohar were arrested from Rohtas district on Saturday over the abduction for ransom of a Madhya Pradesh businessman named Sant Bahadur Singh. The police had seized Rs 40 lakh cash, a motorbike and an illegal weapon from the duo.

Giridih superintendent of police (SP) Surendra Kumar Jha said on Sunday that he came to know about the arrest of Balinder in Rohtas district. Balinder was suspected to be involved in the kidnapping of a poultry feed processing unit owner Manas Ranjan Das from Giridih on August 23 last year.

Manas and his two aides were kidnapped when they were on way to Odisha's Bhubaneswar from Hajipur in Vaishali through Giridih in Jharkhand. The victim's Mercedes was found abandoned near Dumri High School on the Grand Trunk Road in Giridih.

The Giridih SP said a police team would be sent to Rohtas to interrogate Balinder, stated to be a resident of Pataudhi village under Madanpur police station area in Aurangabad district. Manas, who owned a poultry feed processing unit at Hajipur in Vaishali, was rescued from Koelwar in Bhojpur district on October 3, 2017.

Balinder told interrogators that he was an active member of the kidnappers' gang led by one Ajay Singh of Gaya district.

He took command of the gang after the arrest of Ajay in the kidnapping of a doctor and his businessman wife from Gaya district a couple of years ago.

Police sources said that Balinder stepped into the world of crime about 15 years ago and had escaped from judicial custody twice. The Madhya Pradesh police had announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for his arrest, said sources in the police headquarters.

The gang had close relations with a controversial MP of north Bihar, police sources said.

The Muzaffarpur police had conducted a raid at the house of Khalid Ansari at Manohar Chhapra village and rescued the kidnapped businessman Sant Bahadur. Khalid is lodged in jail in connection with a kidnapping case.

The members of the gang used to kidnap for ransom affluent businessmen and professionals by donning police uniforms. The same modus operandi was adopted by the gang in the abduction of Sant Bahadur from Rewa district in Madhya Pradesh.

The Muzaffarpur police also seized police uniforms during the raid on Khalid's house.