A 12-year-old boy was rescued from the clutches of his kidnapper on Sunday and two persons, including the minor’s uncle, have been arrested.

Vikas Kumar, a Class IV student of Premier Public School, around 1km from his residence at Samrat Chowk, was kidnapped while he was returning from school on August 13. According to police, he was allegedly lured by his uncle Kanhaiya Singh to an SUV. Five persons, including professional kidnapper Sunny, were waiting in the vehicle. They took him to a hut at Kahadpur diara in the Bihpur police station area in Naugachia, about 250km east of Patna.

Following an FIR lodged with Maranga police station by Vikas’s father Ambika Prasad Mandal on August 14, the police started tracking the ransom calls. Vikas’s school-in-charge Rahul Kumar Mishra also received a call, demanding Rs 55 lakh, on August 21. Vikas’s mother Neelam also got a ransom call of the same amount.

Purnea superintendent of police Amit Lodha said: “It was challenge for us to rescue the boy safely. I involved my own bodyguard after getting information about the boy that he has been made captive in a hut, which is 4km inside the riverine belt from the main village area.”

According to the sources, Kanhaiya wanted to take revenge against Ambika, a retired Army subedar. So he hatched the abduction plan in collusion with Sunny, who had been to jail many a time, by paying him Rs 10,000.

Sunny, also known to Ambika, was arrested on Saturday and he divulged the whereabouts of the boy. Both Kanhaiya and Sunny were sent to Purnea Central Jail for 14 days.