Sasaram, Aug 22: A prominent coal merchant, kidnapped 28 days ago from Bihar's Rohtas district, was rescued by police today from a house in Saura village of the district. The police acting on information provided by a miscreant, arrested yesterday, raided the village, situated about eight km from the district headquarters, and rescued Dhananjay Kumar from a house, Rohtas SP Bachhu Singh Meena told a news agency.

Seeing the advancing policemen, the kidnappers fled leaving behind the coal merchant in the house, he said. Kumar was kidnapped from New Delia locality under Dehri police station of Rohtas district while he was on his way to his coal depot on July 25, the same day as the Punjab National Bank manager R D Sharma also in the same district.

They were kidnapped a day after the abduction of Siddhant Parmar, the eight-year-old son of a bank officer and nephew of Bihar sugarcane minister Raghvendra Pratap Singh in the state capital. The boy returned home after a fortnight but Sharma is yet untraced. The kidnappings had triggered widespread protest in Rohtas and Patna and police had arrested seven persons in connection with abduction of the two men.

Bureau Report