Ranchi, Feb. 16: After 14 days in captivity, IT professional Prabhakar Sinha was shoved off a car by four abductors near the Sanjay Gandhi Zoological Park in Patna around 9 this morning. Slightly bruised but safe, Prabhakar walked home.

There was no word on whether the Sinha family, based in Gumla, had paid a ransom to buy his release. The possibility of friends being involved in the abduction has grown stronger, the police said, after interrogating the four persons who were arrested two days ago. The police are on the trail of three other men, who they believe planned the abduction. Prabhakar was abducted on February 2 near his Kidwaipuri residence.