Businessman kidnapped from outside Kolkata mall, rescued in hours

A businessman was allegedly kidnapped from outside a shopping mall in south Kolkata's Kasba area but was rescued within hours, a senior police officer said on Thursday.

Identifying themselves as policemen, the accused forced Sheikh Qutubuddin Gazi into their vehicle on Wednesday afternoon from outside the shopping mall, he said.

The kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 40 lakh from Gazi's family, he added.

The police swung into action after Gazi's business partner Rehan Ahmed Qureshi lodged a complaint.

A team of senior officers, led by Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal himself, began scanning the CCTV footage of the area to identify the vehicle.

"All the nearby police stations were put on alert and footage of at least 50 CCTVs around Kasba was checked. It was found that the vehicle went towards Tollygunge after kidnapping him," the officer said.

"After confirming their location in Tollygunge on tracing the ransom call, we started negotiating with the kidnappers in the disguise of a family friend," he added.

When the kidnappers came to collect the ransom money on Thursday morning, five of them were arrested and Gazi, who deals in bricks, was rescued, the officer said.

Among those arrested was the mastermind from whom Gazi took money and was not returning, he said.

"They kidnapped him to get back the money. Raids are on to nab the rest of the accused persons," he said.

Two vehicles used in the crime were seized. One of the vehicles had a police sticker.