Kadapa contractor faked his abduction

GUWAHATI: A contractor from Kadapa, who was reported missing from Assam's Dima Hasao district on Sunday and believed to have been kidnapped by Bodo militants, has been found to have 'faked' his abduction. For, he was traced at Patna in Bihar on Monday.

Police said sub-contractor P Maheswar Reddy, who was working for the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services in the district, had faked his abduction for reasons not known.

The company is engaged in the construction of a major road project in the state. One Bhargav, a close associate of Reddy, had lodged a complaint with police on Sunday that the contractor had been abducted at gun-point by some miscreants while he and Reddy were riding back to the work place at Hatikhali from Lumding in Assam's Nagaon district on a motorcycle. Reddy had gone to Lumding, around 25 km away from Hatikhali, on some work.

Police said the abduction was a drama enacted by the duo. 'There was no kidnap at all. It was a drama enacted by him (Reddy). His associate Bhargav was a party,' Dima Hasao district superintendent of police GV Sivaprasad Ganjala, who also hails from AP, told Express on Monday.

'In the complaint Bhargav had claimed that the alleged abduction took place at a place 12 km from Hatikhali. But the fact is that he did not go there at all. His mobile tower was tracked in Guwahati yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. On Monday it was tracked in Patna. He had also called me up from the Patna railway station. It appears that he had left by train,' the SP said.

'The reason for Reddy faking his abduction will be known only after his return. We don't know what made him to fake his abduction. But we have learnt that he was not doing well both in his work and business.

Probably, he faked his abduction to claim his bank guarantee. He wanted to get back the money by citing a law and order problem. I have asked him to come back, and if he comes back, we will examine him,' Ganjala said.

Under pressure from Andhra and Telangana governments to rescue Reddy, the district authorities had engaged a large number of security personnel, including commandos, to track down and rescue the contractor.

As militants of several organisations are active in the district, the authorities had provided security to officials engaged in the road project and also to those engaged in railway gauge conversion work. Reddy moved around without security in spite of their warning him twice, the SP said.