A file picture of Prashant Jain

Patna, Jan. 6: Nitish Kumar?s efforts to make Bihar crime-free received a severe blow last night with the abduction of the 20-year-old son of a city businessman.

Prashant Jain, son of garment shop owner Ujjwal Jain, was picked up from near his house at Buddha Marg, close to the Kotwali police station.

The abductors, who waited in a Maruti Esteem, overpowered Prashant when he arrived on a scooter around 10.15 pm, bundled him into the car and sped away, police said. The vehicle was seized after a brief encounter with the criminals at Bakhtiyarpur in the wee hours today but all of them managed to run away.

Meanwhile, a Class VIII student of Patna?s Don Bosco School, who had been missing since yesterday, returned home this evening.

Navish Akthar, a resident of the city?s Pataliputra Colony and son of Darbhanga subdivisional officer Naeem Akhtar, was last seen on Thursday evening.

?I was made unconscious by three men near the shop where I had gone to purchase a copy. When I regained consciousness this morning, I found myself in a field at Arrah in Bhojpur. The men told me to get Rs 50 lakh from papa. But when I said papa is only a subdivisional officer in Darbhanga, they let me go. Then I took a train to Patna,? the 15-year-old told reporters, hinting that the abductors could have picked up the wrong person, after his return.

Police, however, are not too sure if Navish is telling the truth. ?We are not sure about the kidnap angle. We are investigating the case with an open mind,? said an officer at the city?s Pataliputra Colony police station.

While the return of Navish has given the police some relief, they could not afford to take it easy until the other missing person, Prashant, comes back. Keeping this in mind, the administration has deployed special task force personnel in Bakhthiyarpur, known to be a criminal hub.

Latest reports suggested that the police have identified the gang and were engaged in an encounter near Ramnagar Diara, in the Ganges belt of Mokamah-Barh. Director-general of police A.R. Sinha said: ?We have identified the gang and are on the job. Senior police officers are leading the encounter and I am monitoring the action personally.?

The Tuni Singh gang is behind the crime, said sources.

Prashant is the brother of Shilpi Jain, who was found dead inside a car along with a local youth, Gautam, around five years ago. The Shilpi-Gautam episode, which involved some big names, had created ripples in the Bihar capital and kept the police on their toes for a long time.

Not one to miss a chance to criticise Nitish, RJD chief Lalu Prasad said: ?My party was punished and its image tarnished on the issue of law and order. But see what is happening now. The NDA has taken us for a ride. I hope the people realise their mistake.?