Binay Krishna Das

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 12: Binay Krishna Das, who was arrested on Wednesday by Puri police in connection with a kidnapping case, was today admitted in the Puri district headquarters hospital.

Das is president of Odisha chapter of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (Credai).

“We have admitted him in the hospital after he complained of chest pain. We have informed the local court in this regard,” said inspector in charge of Puri town police station Jadunath Jena.

Earlier, the Puri police arrested the builder for allegedly kidnapping Satyanarayan Praharaj, who had sold him a patch of land in Bhubaneswar. In November, unidentified goons had kidnapped Praharaj and kept him hostage in Badagada area in Bhubaneswar demanding a ransom of Rs 10 lakh from the family members.

“The land, which Praharaj had sold to the builder, was a disputed one and since then the latter had been asking for refund of his money,” said a police official. The police had received a complaint from Praharaj's younger brother.

Later, the police arrested two persons when Praharaj’s younger brother came to Bhubaneswar to give ransom on November 29. The police conducted raid and arrested another person and rescued Praharaj the same day.

Further investigations by the police revealed that the kidnapping was related to the land dispute and the three persons arrested by the police also confessed to the role of builder in the incident.

“The builder hired the goons promising them 50 per cent share of the money,” said a police official.

Although the previous land deal was to the tune of Rs 5 lakh, the kidnappers had demanded Rs 10 lakh as ransom. The goons have collected more than Rs 2 lakh from Praharaj using his ATM card.