Cook, aides held for seeking Rs 50 lakh ransom from employer

Reported by Santosh Jagdev

Bhubaneswar, Mar 28:

Twin City Commissioner of Police (CP) Dr R P Sharma on Friday appealed to the residents of the capital city to collect all information and properly check the criminal antecedents before engaging domestic servant in their houses. In case of the slightest doubt, they should immediately inform the police, he said.

The commissioner’s advice came after the commissionerate police arrested three persons, including the kingpin Krushna Chandra Mohanty (28), in the wee hours of Friday for threatening to kill Mohanty’s employer Pritiranjan Hota if he failed to pay a ransom

Mohanty, a person hailing from Malisahi village in Nayagarh district employed as a cook in Hota’s rented house at plot number-570/2254 in Shreevihar under Chandrasekharpur police limits here, and his two associates – Mitu Behera (22) and Brajabandhu Swain (20), both of Dimisar village under Sarankul police limits in the same district,  had threatened to kill Pritiranjan if he failed to give them Rs 50 lakhs as ransom.

While police was able to nab Mitu, Brajabandhu and Krushna, another accused Lochan Swain of Valiadihi was still at large.

Briefing newsmen about the crime here today, Dr Sharma said the matter came to light on March 13 this month when Pritiranjan, a B Tech student, filed a complaint with the Chandrasekhapur police station.

At around 11.30 pm on March 12, Mitu, Brajabandhu and Lochan slyly entered the house through the stair case as per the plan hatched by cook Krushna while Pritiranjan was with his mother in his rented house. As per the plan, they threatened Pritiranjan and his mother with a pistol and a knife demanding a ransom of Rs 50 lakhs from them. To avoid being physically harmed, the son and his mother handed over the gold rings they were wearing to the accused, Dr Sharma said.

Fortunately, some of the relatives of the complainant had arrived there by that time and knocked on the door forcing the accused to hurriedly leave the spot with only the two gold rings, two cell phones and a purse, the CP informed.

Acting on the complaint, the local police team today rounded up the kingpin cook Krushna, along with his associates Mitu and Brajabandhu, while Lochan was still at large. Police have recovered one single shot pistol, three live ammunitions, one knife, one gold ring, one cell phone, an ATM card and a purse of the complainant from their possession.

“During investigation, we found a lot of difficulties as the complainant had employed the cook without verifying his antecedents and other details,” the CP added.

A case has been registered against the accused under section 457, 385, 392, 34 IPC, r/w-section 25/27 Arms Act.

The CP further said the accused persons Brajabandhu and Mitu were involved in a number of criminal cases in Bhubaneswar and Sarankul police station of Nayagarh district.