Dumka, Nov. 4: A gang of mostly amateur outlaws managed to pull off the daring abduction of an Andhra Pradesh construction company CEO and two other employees on Thursday, but forgot to turn off one of their victims’ cellphones leaving tell-tale trail for a police swoop.

CSR Infrastructure Limited CEO and chairman Challa Srinivas Rao, his chief accountant Narsimha Rao and driver Mannu Bhagat were rescued in a raid on a remote Dudhkol village house in Taljhari, 35km from Sahebganj district headquarters, on Sunday morning.

Sahebganj SP A. Vijayalaxmi, who led the 8 o’clock raid, said six kidnappers had been arrested, while a hunt had been launched for three others, including house owner Manjhi Ram.

Those arrested are all residents of Lohanda village in Jirbabari police station area of Sahebganj. Two countrymade firearms and five live cartridges have been found on them.

Sahebganj DSP Sashi Bhushan said Rao and his men were abducted at gunpoint around November 1 midnight after they left a Borio construction site around 11pm.

“When the kidnappers approached the victims, the CEO was still talking to his subordinate over phone, which remained switched on for the next 18 minutes. The employee at the other end of the line sniffed foul play as he listened to voices of strangers. He informed police,” the DSP said.

Dumka DIG Dadanji Sharma, who supervised the rescue, said the motive behind the abduction was to collect ransom, but they did not succeed.

Besides the mobile faux pas, the amateur kidnappers — only two of whom have been involved in petty crimes before — also left Rao’s SUV, used in the abduction, at Dhobadanga in Pakur, 65km from Dudhkol. Police questioned local residents to nail the culprits.