Rs 5 Crore Ransom Sought in Jharkhand Kidnapping Case; Police Intensify Searches Across States

Jamshedpur: The kidnapping of Kairav Gandhi, the 24-year-old son of prominent Jamshedpur-based businessman Devang Gandhi, has entered its third day with no decisive breakthrough, even as the abductors have demanded a ransom of Rs 5 crore.

Police investigations revealed that the ransom call and messages were made from a foreign number traced to Indonesia. Jharkhand Police have constituted seven dedicated teams that are conducting coordinated raids in Jharkhand as well as neighbouring states including Bihar, West Bengal, and Odisha.

According to officials, Kairav left home on Tuesday morning in his car, informing his family that he would visit a bank in Bistupur and then head to his office in Adityapur. When he failed to return for lunch and his phone became unreachable, concern mounted.

Later, his vehicle was found abandoned near a resort along NH-33 in the Chandil police station area. His mobile phone was recovered near the car, raising suspicion that he was forcibly abducted after being intercepted on the way.

Police have identified a suspicious vehicle, falsely displaying a police insignia, that was seen near Kairav’s car. Technical surveillance, forensic examination of the vehicle, and CCTV footage from toll plazas and city exit points are being analysed, while the cyber cell continues efforts to trace the kidnappers.

With inputs from IANS