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Kidnap: narco test on prime accused

BHUBANESWAR: Is Rasmi Ranjan Mohapatra, the Keonjhar-based businessman who was kidnapped last year, alive?

While police of three districts are struggling to give a satisfactory reply to the query, the mystery is likely to be solved after prime accused Arsad Pervez undergoes narco test. Pervez, who was recently arrested from Jameshedpur, said he had killed Mohapatra after a few days of his kidnap from Bhubaneswar. However, his version did not convince the Bolangir police, who were in the forefront of the investigation.

“There have been conflicting reports on the whereabouts of Mohapatra. While Pervez told us that he had killed Mohapatra, associates of gangster Haider claimed that the victim was alive,” Himansu Lal, Bolangir SP, said. “We will very soon conduct the narco test on Pervez to know if he is telling the truth,” Mr. Lal said.

With investigation reaching nowhere, members of Mohapatra’s family have virtually gone though the hell since the kidnap.

“Pervez is the person who was contacting us soon after the kidnap. We had a strong feeling that my brother was alive till November when we talked to him last time,” Pradip Barik, brother of the victim, said.

“Now our confidence has been shaken in the wake of reports about Pervez’s statement,” he said. Mohapatra’s family has paid up to Rs. 1 crore to unknown gangsters in several instalments.

Haider, who was coordinating kidnapping dealings, was hard to be cracked, the only option left with the police to solve the case is to go for a narco test on Pervez. Haider is now lodged in the Bolangir district jail.

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