STF tracing Nicholas Piramal official in MP

Gwalior, Jan 23 (UNI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said a Special Task Force team was tracing the whereabouts of a Nicholas Piramal senior official abducted in the vicinity of Gwalior along with his driver.

''Mr Ashwini Bhatt will soon be freed from the clutches of his abductors. The incident will not affect the advent of industry in Gwalior region. The state government will provide security to industrialists,'' he told mediapersons here after taking part in various programmes.

Mr Bhatt had come here from Indore to take part in MP Expartek 2008. No ransom call has been made, police said. The car was found in Dhaulpur.

The official, posted in the company's unit at Pithampur near Indore, left for Gwalior on January 17. After attending the event, he began his return journey on January 18 and was scheduled to return to Indore on January 19 but his cellphone could not be reached since that afternoon. Mr Bhatt's wife Basanti has lodged a police complaint.

UNI Team-AC BDP VC2100