Patna, Aug. 28: Plus Two student of RMR Academy Abhishek Kumar was lucky to survive a kidnap bid yesterday because police acted swiftly. Gyan Niketan student Aditya Kumar, too, would have, had the cops been equally sharp.

The police action in two back-to-back abductions — one in which a boy was saved after being kidnapped and the other in which a teenager lost his life — are in sharp contrast to each other. Fifteen-year-old Aditya, was abducted on August 24. He was murdered in small hours the next day.

The mastermind of the crime was Ravi Kumar, one of the best friends of the victim. Sources said the police questioned Ravi out of suspicion on the night of August 24. But he managed to fox the cops. Considering him to be innocent, the police set him free. Ravi was arrested only after Aditya’s body was found on August 26.

But the police were spot-on in their decisions after Abhishek, a resident of Bakarganj and the son of businessman Rajeev Prasad, was abducted.

Abhishek was having ice cream with his two friends around 10.30pm at Maurya hotel under Gandhi Maidan police station when a friend of his — Soli — called him on his cellphone and asked him to come to the JP roundabout, a few metres away from the hotel.

As Abhishek came out with his friends, Soli and his six accomplices forced him into a car and drove away. The friends of Abhishek immediately informed Rajeev about the incident. The latter rushed to Gandhi Maidan police station and informed the cops about his son’s abduction.

“The friends of Abhishek gave the registration number of the car of his kidnappers to the police. The cops traced the residence of Soli through his car number. Deputy superintendent of police (town) Ramakant Prasad was asked to rush to Soli’s residence in the Kankerbagh area and talk to his family members,” Patna city superintendent of police (SP) central Shivdeep Lande told The Telegraph.

After the police told Soli’s family members about his misdeed, they called him up on his cellphone. The police also had a word with Soli.

“Under immense pressure, Soli and his accomplices promised to release Abhishek near the Chiriyatand area of Patna. But they did not. When the police doubled the pressure, the kidnappers left Abhishek at Bakhtiarpur area on the outskirts of the city and fled,” the officer said.

An FIR has been lodged against seven persons, including Soli, Ajit, Deepak, Avinash, Rahul and two unknown persons, based on the statement of Abhishek.

Like Abhishek, Aditya too could have been rescued from the clutches of his abductors had the police grilled Ravi properly.

A police officer told The Telegraph: “Abhishek went missing on Wednesday around 5pm after Ravi took him to a village in Punpun for a rice and fish treat. The first ransom call was made to Aditya’s family by Ravi and his group around 9.15pm the same day. The police acted fast and by 10.30pm caught hold of Ravi, who returned to Patna leaving Aditya with his accomplices since he did not want anyone to doubt him. The police interrogated Ravi for a while and then set him free.”

The officer said: “Aditya was killed around 3am, only after the second ransom call was made to his family at 2.30am. Aditya was made to speak to his family members then. Had Ravi been questioned properly, he would have broken down and told the police about Aditya’s whereabouts. The police had at least five hours to rescue him. But the cops thought that Ravi was innocent and let him go,” the officer said.