Hours after his story was published by The Sunday Express, the Rapid Action Force (RAF) moved to expedite the transfer of constable Arun Kumar to a post from where he can follow better the investigations into the kidnapping of his son. The Sunday Express reported how Kumar, posted in Vadodara to keep the peace in the wake of clashes over the demolition of a dargah, was torn between duty and concern for his 22-year-old son, Mukesh Kumar, who was kidnapped six months ago from Bihar’s Gaya town. After reading the report, J K Sinha, DG CRPF—the CRPF is RAF’s parent organisation—said: “We are in touch with Bihar Police since the past few months. Today I spoke to Director General Ashish Ranjan Sinha and the SP of Gaya. They are very hopeful and have assured me that everything would be done to secure his release”. The DG has also written to Kumar’s 100 Bn. Battalion commandant G S Kaul has forwarded Kumar’s request for a transfer to hometown Gaya or Kanpur. He said the process will be expedited. “Even if I am in Kanpur, I’ll be able to visit Gaya during the weekends (to follow up the case),” Kumar told The Indian Express. “This is all we can do. We don’t have the power to investigate his case or make arrests. It’s shameful that a man from the force has to go through such insecurity about his family,” Kaul said. Kaul said that he’d written to the Gaya SP, DM, DIG (Magadh range) and even the Inspector handling the case. Mukesh and another youth, Ajit Kumar, were abducted on November 24 last year. After arresting two of the prime accused in the case, Bihar Police had given Kumar’s family hope that his son could be alive but perhaps not in good condition. Recently, the two accused were granted bail by a local court. “I have appealed to the High Court to have their bail rejected. But how long can I fight for justice like this from here?” asked Kumar. DIG (Magadh range) Arvind Pandey told The Indian Express: “We arrested two of the accused and found that the boys might be alive but not in very good condition. We also learnt the names of four more men who were associated with the abduction. But they did not tell us where they had kept the boys.” Bihar DGP Asish Rajan Sinha said: “They (the family) disregarded our suggestion to inform the police after a ransom call. The parents bargained with the abductors and went on to pay Rs 1 lakh as ransom, keeping the police in the dark. Had they informed us, we would have arrested the culprits.” He said that the police was pursuing the matter and raids were on to arrest the culprits. Gaya SP Amit Jain said that Firan Alam and Ramvilas Mahato were arrested after the mobile numbers used by the abductors to make ransom calls were tracked down. “The whole gang is from Nawada and the incident also occurred in Nawada. I have told my senior officers to transfer the case to Nawada. I am not sure if they are alive now. The other four people named in the case are all absconding,” said Jain. Like Kumar, his wife Ravo Devi is also hopeful. She told The Indian Express over phone: “I hope he’s alive. But the administration is taking no notice of the case. I go to see the DM and police officers time and again with my two other children. But no one will tell me where Mukesh is.” RELATED STORY
