Police in the state capital on Thursday said National Institute of Technology (NIT) student Ravi, missing for 13 days, might have been kidnapped for his alleged involvement in an admission racket.

“It was revealed during investigation that the 22-year-old youth had taken a lot of money from people, apparently promising them admission of their wards to the institute,” Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Amrit Raj told The Telegraph.

“Our focus is to rescue the boy at the earliest. We are on the job. We are not ruling out the chance of the student being abducted because of his involvement in the admission racket,” he added.

Ravi’s father, Ramesh Rajak, had filed an FIR on June 24, a day after the student went missing, and named one Brij Mohan, a Darbhanga resident, as the prime suspect. “Brij, 25, was also a student of NIT but was suspended. He is at present in our custody. Brij said he had given Ravi Rs 6 lakh but the latter never returned the money,” Mritunjay Kumar, the station house officer of the local Sultanganj police station said.

Incidentally, the first person who had called up Ravi’s father had sought Rs 6 lakh as ransom. Later, the ransom amount shot up to Rs 20 lakh

“Brij’s version raises two questions. Why should Ravi need so much of money? We are also trying to find out if Ravi had promised Brij something in return. We cannot rule out the possibility of the two being involved in some shady deal and subsequently falling out,” an officer said.

Rajak, a headmaster of a school in Madhepura district, said: “My son cannot be involved in any racket. Ravi and Brij were together at the lodge in Patna till 7pm on June 23 before leaving on their respective motorbikes. Around 9pm, Ravi told his friends, who had called him on his phone, that he was returning to the lodge. Around 3.30am on June 24, Brij called me and said Ravi was missing. ”