Patna, May 14: The criminal investigation department (CID) is probing the role of inter-state gang leader Bharat Yadav in the kidnapping of Gaya-based doctor Pankaj Kumar Gupta and his entrepreneur wife Shubhra from Barachatti police station area of the district on May 1.

Bharat, a native of Dobhi under Sherghati sub-division in Gaya district, is said to have developed close ties with Ajay Singh, the alleged mastermind of the sensational kidnapping. Bharat is also considered close to a former minister hailing from Gaya district.

"The role of Bharat and his associates in the doctor couple's kidnap is under the CID scanner," said a senior IPS officer posted at the state police headquarters. A CID team camping in Gaya to assist the district police in the kidnapping case, returned to the headquarters on Wednesday.

According to preliminary investigation, though Bharat and Ajay had known each other for over a decade, they joined hands after emergence of a new political equation in the state last year. An investigating officer said: "He (Bharat) operates secretly in the area falling under Bihar and Jharkhand. Several persons were kidnapped from the Grand Trunk road near Gaya, including Hazaribagh-based businessman Anil Agarwal some years ago." He admitted that several cases went unreported.

Anil, the police officer said, was kidnapped along with his driver from GT Road in Gaya district in January 2012 while on his way from Varanasi to Bengal in his car. The trader from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand was freed almost a month after his family paid a huge ransom. Anil's father Gyan Chandra Agarwal is a noted industrialist.

At a meeting with SPs from Gaya, Aurangabad, Nawada, Jehanabad and Arwal, deputy inspector-general (Magadh range) Shalin stressed on the need to intensify patrolling on GT road, which, of late, has turned into a safe haven for kidnappers and entry mafias - a term for those involved in illegal trade of coal and iron from Jharkhand. In fact, even Bharat belongs to the entry mafia. "We are not going to tolerate lapses on the part of police officials if any major incident of crime is reported from the busy road connecting Bihar with several states," the DIG told senior officers.

Gaya senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaj said till date no dedicated police teams had been deployed on GT road. However, the police stations concerned have been put on high alert and station house officers asked to step up surveillance in the area.

"We are contemplating deployment of dedicated police teams for highway patrolling because of Naxal activities in the area. Moreover, a large number of vehicles pass through the road every day," Mahaaraj told The Telegraph over phone on Thursday.