Kidnapped man rescued,cops hunt for Customs official

Misbahul Zama was abducted on March 27 by Shukla and his associates for extortion. A case of kidnapping for ransom and illegal detention has been registered against Shukla — posted in Faizabad — and three others at the Mahanagar police station on Wednesday.

The case was later transferred to Kotwali Gorakhpur,as Zama was abducted from the same area.

Superintendent with the Faizabad Customs office,Vijay Bahadur Singh,said: “Inspector Deo Swaroop Shukla is posted here but we have no

information about his involvement in any kidnapping case. Action will be initiated against him after we receive the police report.” Singh said he had no information about Shukla’s whereabouts.

Lucknow SSP (Law and Order) Raghuvir Lal said: “Shukla had picked up the victim with the help of his informers. They had initially demanded a sum of Rs 6 lakh as ransom. Later,the deal was finalised at Rs 3 lakh.”

Sanjay Singh was arrested when he went to collect the ransom amount from Misbahul’s home at Gorakhpur’s Tiwaripur area on Tuesday. Lal further said that a report was being sent to the Customs department regarding the involvement of Shukla.

Gorakhpur DIG Abhay Kumar Prasad said: “We are interrogating Sanjay. The police are also looking for Shukla.”

According to Zama,a group of six persons had forced him into a Tata Sumo near the Indralok theatre in Gorakhpur on March 27.

One of them had identified himself as a Customs inspector and threatened to arrest Zama for running a fake currency racket.

Zama was brought to Faizabad,where he was tortured on March 28. The next day,he was brought to Amit Hotel in Lucknow’s Mahanagar area.

The Lucknow police had raided the hotel following a tip-off from their Gorakhpur counterparts.

A police team from Lucknow has taken the accused and Zama to Gorakhpur,said Mahanagar CO Subhash Attri.