Ludhiana tycoon’s abductors arrested by police

IANS/Ludhiana/Shimla

Five of the seven people involved in the abduction of a young industrialist from Punjab’s Ludhiana city have been arrested, police said yesterday.

A huge amount of cash was also seized.

Police sources said the cash - paid as ransom by the family of abducted industrialist Manish Bharara to secure his release - was recovered from those arrested.

Bharara had returned home on Sunday night.

 Ludhiana police commissioner Paramjit Singh Gill said that five people involved in the abduction of Bharara and his driver Hem Lal last week have been arrested.

The victims were waylaid by the abductors, who came in police uniforms, here last week. They took them away along with Bharara’s luxury car.

Punjab Police also sent a team to Hamirpur district of neighbouring Himachal Pradesh to arrest the remaining two but they managed to evade the police, while leaving their car behind.

Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh police have recovered a huge sum amounting to Rs46mn from a car parked outside the campus of the Deotsidh temple in Hamirpur.

“Three bags full of currency notes were recovered from the parked vehicle,” superintendent of police Jagat Ram said.

However, he refused to give details about the case saying the matter “was under investigation”.

Police suspect the money was part of the ransom allegedly received by some people from an industrialist in Ludhiana for releasing his son. Gill said that police did not take action against the abductors earlier to ensure the safe return of the industrialist.

He said the mastermind of the abduction was Guru Arpan Chauhan, who with six others, including a woman, had hatched the conspiracy two months ago. Chauhan and the woman were among those arrested.