Krishna Bhalotia with his daughters in Jamshedpur. (PTI)

Jamshedpur, Sept. 17: Less than 24 hours after his rescue from Didarganj in Patna, industrialist Krishna Bhalotia today alleged that his brother’s father-in-law Deepak Bagaria was the mastermind behind the abduction.

Expectedly, Bagaria dismissed the allegation, but Seraikela-Kharsawan superintendent of police Laxman Prasad Singh said they would investigate the matter to find the truth. Bhalotia reached his residence in the Circuit House area around 2.30 pm amid tight security.

Talking to reporters, the industrialist — director of Bebbco Toyota — said criminals from Bihar had carried out his abduction. “Just a couple of hours after my abduction on September 2, the kidnappers — carrying only a pistol and a bat — called someone and asked him to inform Bagaria, a doctor, about the successful operation. The abductors, five in number, were talking in Bhojpuri and passed on the information to some ‘Netaji’ and ‘Sethji’. But I could not find out who this Netaji was,” he said.

One of the abductors, Bhalotia claimed, told him that the Bagaria family paid Rs 5 lakh for the abduction. “On September 4, the abductors even received a call from Raju Bagaria, Deepak’s son. Raju asked the abductors not to give me food and torture me,” he said, ruling out payment of ransom for his release, a claim police have supported. “My family has not paid ransom.”

SP Singh pointed out that police of Jharkhand, Bihar and Bengal were working round-the-clock on the case.

“We were just preparing to raid a hideout in Patna, along with the local police, when the abductors released Bhalotia,” the official said.

The Bagaria family has demanded a CBI probe into the episode. “The Bhalotias are trying to drag us into the case by using their political and administrative influence,” Bagaria said in a news release.