IB officers nabbed for abduction, loot

Raipur, Mar 26 (UNI) Three Intelligence Bureau (IB) officers were among six arrested here for abducting and looting a Surat-based diamond trader last week, sources said.

Bureau sources said IB officer Praveer Banerjee was caught at the local railway station by senior IB officers this morning, while attempting to escape to Kolkata and was handed over to police. The trio were posted at the IB's local office.

Inspector-General of Police (Raipur Range) D M Awasthi told UNI that NOIDA-resident Dheeraj Mohali and Pratap Singh of Hisar, both Bureau officers, were apprehended earlier besides three other accused Indranil Dey, Surendra Patwa and Mohan Vishwakarma.

''Patwa, who managed a fancy store at Bhim Nagar, was in touch with Pradeep Singh, a local trader. Pradeep used to have knowledge about the visiting businessmen from Gujarat and Mumbai. Patwa was also known to Vishwakarma, whom he met at his brother's shop in Badaipara,'' Mr Awasthi said.

Mohali, who claimed to be a CBI official, had links with Vishwakarma. They hatched a plan to extort money from the diamond traders who used to visit the city.

On March 19, Patwa and others planned to target Pradeep, a diamond merchant, who was staying at a local hotel. Since Patwa was known to Pradeep, the other four accused, posing as CBI officers, seized diamonds worth Rs 12 lakh and 'arrested' Pradeep.

However, they later released Pradeep taking gems worth Rs 1.5 lakh from him. Patwa was later arrested on a tip-off and on the basis of information received from him, others were also apprehended.

Police seized diamonds, a necklace, earrings, a cellphone and three motorbikes from the possession of the accused.

An IG-level IB officer has reached here to gather particulars on the case.

UNI SM-AC YA KN1747