A local BJP leader Suprabhat Batyabyal and two others were arrested in West Bengal’s Birbhum district on for “staging” the abduction of his own daughter “to fulfil his political agenda.”
Two others arrested from Dalkhola in connection with the abduction are Raju Batak Sarkar, a mason, and Dipankar Mondal, a factory worker.
On Thursday, 23-year-old Prathama Batabyal, a school teacher and daughter of BJP leader Suprabhat Batabyal, was allegedly kidnapped at gun point from her home in Labhpur, about 180 km from Kolkata.
In a joint operation with Uttar Dinajpur police, a police team from Birbhum traced the 22-year-old woman to Dalkhola railway station area on Sunday morning.
“We have rescued the girl from Dalkhola station and arrested two persons who were with her. After interrogating the two, we came to know that they and the BJP leader knew each other and visited each other’s houses. The BJP leader held a meeting with the two arrested persons on February 13, a day before the kidnapping,” said ASP Sarkar.
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He added that, “The police had been looking out for Batabyal for quite some time in connection with a case against him. Based on information gathered so far by interrogating the arrested persons and questioning the woman, we believe the abduction was staged to put pressure on the police to stop looking for him.”
BJP’s Birbhum district president Ramkrishna Roy said he will comment after finding about the incident in detail.
