UPI payment helps cops rescue abducted trader

Time of India

a day ago

Kolkata: Bhowanipore Police on Saturday rescued a Kulpi-based trader who was kidnapped 48 hours earlier from near the Netaji Bhavan metro station and kept confined to a condo's 11th-floor flat on SC Mullick Road, close to Jadavpur's Sulekha area.
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The cops have arrested five people for orchestrating the abduction. The accused allegedly demanded a ransom of Rs 10 lakh, later revised to Rs 5 lakh, from the victim's family through WhatsApp calls made to the victim's wife.
The victim, Timir Kanti Majumder, had travelled to Kolkata from South 24 Parganas on May 28 for some bank-related work.
The rescue operation lasted less than four hours and involved the use of state-of-the-art technical surveillance.
"The main hurdle of the investigation was to locate any suspect as neither the complainant — Majumder's wife Tapasi — nor her family members could provide any details about any suspect. The suspects themselves were not using mobile phones," said DC (South) Priyabrata Roy. The accused kept their phones switched off and used the victim's phone to place ransom demands using a Wi-Fi network.
The victim's wife panicked on receiving the ransom calls and told the accused she needed time to try and arrange the money.
She sent the accused Rs 10,000 — of the Rs 5 lakh demanded as ransom — to the UPI ID of one of the accused, Suman Bose. This transaction later turned out to be the most crucial lead in the investigation.
"We located Bose near Sukanta Setu. He was nabbed and questioned extensively before he led us to the flat located inside the Jadavpur condo. He also helped us track down the victim," said an investigating officer.
"It seems that some dispute over financial transactions led to the trader being targeted.
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The accused have told us that the victim owed lakhs to them. The complainant, though, has denied the claims, stating Majumder was tricked in a business venture. It is clear, though, that the accused knew each other," said an investigating officer.
"The accused have been identified as Sajal Bose (43), Sudip Mazumder (39), Suman Bose (51), Samir Kumar Deb (51), and Sandipan alias Chima Das (39), all residents of the Bijoygarh area. They have been booked under sections 140(2)/140(3)/3(5) of the BNS Act, 2023, pertaining to kidnapping for ransom," said Rupesh Kumar, Joint CP (Crime).