Siliguri, Aug. 25 :
Siliguri, Aug. 25:
The script was something straight out of the Khadim's kidnap drama. Only, this kidnap was in Siliguri.
Last night, around 10.45 pm, armed miscreants kidnapped 21-year-old Mukesh Agarwal, the owner of a popular amusement centre, when he was about to return home from Millennium Paradise on 2nd Mile, Sevoke Road.
Agarwal came out of his office accompanied by Sanju Nayak, the manager of his centre. A white Tata Sumo was parked nearby. As Agarwal tried to start his motorcycle, four miscreants pounced on him and dragged him into the Sumo and sped away.
His relatives claimed they have not received any ransom call yet. Police have, however, tapped Agarwal's telephone lines to monitor calls.
'Around 11 pm last night we received a complaint over the telephone that Agarwal had been kidnapped,' said an official of the Bhaktinagar police station.
'Though the place was nearly empty, there were a few eyewitnesses. They said the miscreants took the Fulbari-Jalpaiguri bypass. The abductors had been waiting in their vehicle a short distance away and when they saw the victim come out from the centre, they took him away at gun-point,' the official said.
'From the eyewitness accounts, we have figured out that the abductors were carrying sophisticated weapons like 9 mm pistols. This morning, the Agarwal family formally lodged an FIR with the Bhaktinagar police. Though, we are not ruling out business rivalry behind the abduction, we are open to the idea that ransom could be motive. So far, the Agarwal family maintains they have not received any ransom calls,' an official investigating the case said. Police are interrogating centre manager Nayak (32) and another employee, Rohit Pradhan, who were present during the abduction.
Recalling the incident, Nayak told The Telegraph that as usual his employer and another employee, after shutting down the centre, were on their way home when in a span of barely three minutes Agarwal was dragged into a waiting white Tata Sumo which sped towards the National Highway 31.
'We had just closed the centre, and Agarwal was about to start his bike, when all of a sudden three or four armed men carrying automatic weapons surrounded him and started dragging him. Agarwal fell down, and was picked up by his abductors and dragged into the waiting vehicle. By the time we realised what was happening, he had been whisked away. Rohit and I rushed to Agarwal's residence which is barely half a kilometre away and informed the family about the abduction,' said Nayak, who had joined the amusement centre only a month back.
Agarwal's father, Bisseshar Lal, is one of the biggest bricks and building material traders in the town. None of his family members agreed to speak to the press.