Katihar police on Friday rescued homoeopath Navin Chandra Ghosh and his two friends from kidnappers at Malda in neighbouring Bengal.

The kidnappers had allegedly demanded Rs 5 lakh as ransom for the release of Ghosh. A gang of armed criminals allegedly kidnapped Ghosh and his two friends - Parmanand Pandey, a railway employee, and Mithilesh Paswan, a local resident - when they had gone to Malda for business on July 19.

Katihar superintendent of police Siddharth Mohan Jain said a police team was sent to Malda to trace the trio. The police raided a house at Motabari in Malda district and recovered the captives safely.

The kidnappers, however, managed to hoodwink the police. "Our priority was to recover the kidnapped persons safely and then initiate action against the kidnappers. The raiding team returned to Katihar with the trio," the SP said.

"The victims will be produced in court to get their statements recorded under Section 164 of CrPC. The police will produce them in court after their health improves," the SP said. Ghosh's wife Nandini Ghosh had lodged a complaint with the Katihar Sahayak police station on July 19 alleging that her husband had been kidnapped for ransom. The kidnappers had demanded Rs 5 lakh as ransom.

The police have launched raids to nab Bharat Choudhary, who was known to Parmanand Pandey. Choudhary had called the trio to pay the loan, which he had taken from Parmanand. The three were allegedly taken hostage when they visited his house.