Three students were abducted for ransom in Patna in two separate incidents. The police have launched operations to find them.

In the first instance, Vinay Kumar Vidhyarthi and Subodh Kumar were abducted from a residential colony under Patrakarnagar police station. The family members have lodged a complaint, a police official said.

Both the students were staying in a rented house and preparing for a competitive examination. Vinay's father is a fax operator in the Union human resource development ministry in New Delhi, and Subodh's father is a primary school teacher.

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In the other incident, Dilip Kumar [Images], 15, a class X student of Central School was abducted on Thursday. His family has also lodged a complaint with the police. Teh boy's father, Ramji Singh, is a junior engineer in the irrigation department, posted at Sahebganj, Jharkhand.

"Dilip was abducted when he was returning after attending coaching classes on Thursday evening," a police official said.

The family members of Vinay and Sunodh have reportedly recieved a phone call from the abductors, demanding Rs 70 lakh (Rs 7 million) for their safe release. There has been no ransom demand made for Dilip yet.

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