Balasore, June 19: Town police today arrested four criminals for allegedly kidnapping a driver for a ransom of Rs 5,000.

The accused persons have been identified as Sk. Mamut, 22, Sk. Lipa, 19, both of Golpolo in Orodbazar, Ajit Das, 22, of Omara village under Sadar and Ganesh Chandra Samal, 23, of Langaleswar.

Two other accused - Prakash Raj and Rajesh Bindhani - are absconding, said police.

Inspector in charge of Sahadevkhunta police station Paresh Rout said: "The accused were arrested from the outskirts of the town. During interrogation, it was learnt that they are history sheeters."

"Mamut is wanted by Digha police in connection with a murder that took place on June 16, 2013. Prakash, who was also wanted by the police, managed to flee. One of the two-wheelers used in the kidnap was a stolen motorcycle," he said.

These goons had come to attend a wedding in Balasore. While going back, they needed money and, therefore, kidnapped Biswajit Mahanta, a driver, for ransom. The accused six had come on two motorcycles to the railway station yesterday around 4am and kidnapped Mahanta, a resident of Keuntinimari in the Chandua police limits.

Mahanta is engaged in delivering newspaper packets of a vernacular daily in various destinations despatched from Bhubaneswar. Umakanta Majhi, another employee of the newspaper, informed the police about the incident. Later, the accused were tracked.