Prompt action coupled with technical expertise helped police rescue a 12-year-old boy from Madhepura district’s Arajpur on Monday evening.

The boy, Niraj Kumar, is a Class IV student and a resident of Baliya village under Rupauli police station of the district, around 350km northeast of Patna.

He was kidnapped five days ago from his home at gunpoint by five men in the presence of his parents.

The kidnappers also threatened his parents not to raise an alarm. Niraj’s father, Satish Bhagat, a trader, lodged a case of kidnapping at Mohanpur police outpost on February 7. On February 9, the kidnappers made a ransom demand of Rs 20 lakh to Niraj’s parents. He was rescued the day after.

One Shankar Mandal, Bhagat’s neighbour, confessed his role in the crime. He hatched a plan in collusion of a criminal friend, Prakash Mahato, to take revenge on Bhagat.

According to Mandal, a bag containing some money was stolen around five years ago from his residence. He suspected the involvement of Bhagat’s family in that. Bhagat was not financially sound then and stayed in a hut. But over the past five years, his economic condition changed and he constructed a concrete house, lending credence to Mahato’s suspicion.

Police took the help of a mobile tracker. While investigating the case, the police recovered a used slipper with the skewed mark of toe.