Abducted taxi driver dies by suicide, 4 held

Bhubaneswar: The police have arrested four persons for their alleged involvement in abduction and suicide of a taxi driver whose body was found on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar last week. The deceased was identified as Bidyadhar Sahoo (35) of Aranga village in Khurda district. His body was found near Jujhagada village on Pitapalli-Baranga road under Chandaka police station limits on Saturday. The four arrested have been identified as N Dilip Kumar (37), Ramesh Chandra Behera (56), Deepak Kumar Sahukar (30) and Rabindra Behera (50), all belonging to Gajapati district,

According to police, the accused persons along with some others had kidnapped Sahoo after he allegedly cheated them of lakhs of rupees on the promise of providing jobs. They demanded a ransom of Rs 1.5 crore from Sahoo’s wife. Some others, including a woman, were allegedly involved in the job fraud case, the police said. Police have launched a search operation to nab the woman, often referred to as ‘madam,’ who has been absconding since Sahoo’s abduction on September 15.

“Sahoo had allegedly taken educational certificates and money from the accused persons with the promise of giving them jobs. On September 15, the accused persons forcefully took Sahoo to Jajpur and asked him to return their money and documents,” Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissioner S Dev Datta Singh said here on Monday.

Sahoo was subjected to torture by his captors, who pressured him to return their money. Subsequently, he allegedly died by suicide in the house in Jajpur on September 19, where he was held captive by the abductors. The accused persons, in a state of panic, later disposed of his body and abandoned his taxi near Chandaka, Singh said.

The driver’s wife had lodged a missing person complaint at Badagada police station here on September 19.