Kolkata: What began as an antique deal arranged through Facebook turned into a kidnapping ordeal for a Bhopal-based antique collector, who travelled to Kolkata, was taken to Basirhat after being lured by a promise of cheap antiques and was allegedly held captive before police mounted a ransom trap near Haldirams on VIP Road and rescued him.The victim, a businessman from Narmadapuram in Madhya Pradesh, had travelled to Kolkata on Sept 22 for business. According to police, he came in contact with the suspects through Facebook. The gang reportedly told him they could arrange antique items at a price much lower than the market rate.The gang members met him outside Kolkata airport on Thursday and took him to Basirhat to inspect the antiques. “There, he realised that they were fake. He decided to leave, but the men abducted him,” said a senior officer of Bidhannagar City Police.Around 2pm on Thursday, the businessman called up his son from his mobile and told him that around five to six men had abducted him in the Basirhat area and were demanding Rs 20 lakh. The victim was then moved to a hideout in Burrabazar. He was allegedly assaulted and tortured.The man’s son flew to Kolkata on Friday and lodged a complaint at the NSCBI Airport Police Station. “We began a probe and started tracing the man’s location from the airport area. We managed to get some leads as well,” said the officer.The rescue operation was then planned around the ransom handover. Police asked the man’s son to pretend to agree to the demand. The abductors asked him to come to Haldirams crossing at night. He was instructed to bring a bag apparently containing cash.The dramatic operation unfolded when the youth reached the designated spot, placed the bag near a roadside bin and quietly left the area, as instructed by police. Plainclothes officers had already positioned themselves nearby and kept the spot under surveillance.“The suspects arrived expecting to collect the ransom. As they moved towards the bag and attempted to take it, the waiting officers sprang into action and caught them,” the officer said.Police arrested Rajat Biswas (60), a resident of Panihati and a former senior Customs official; Gopal Das (48), a Basirhat resident who worked as a Customs canteen staffer; and Samim Gazi (30), a Basirhat resident who works as a driver. All three were produced before a Barrackpore court and sent to police custody.Investigators are now trying to identify the other members of the alleged gang and establish whether they had targeted other antique buyers using the same Facebook lure.
