Ri-Bhoi police were involved in a dramatic highway chase to arrest four kidnappers and free their victim, with multiple shots fired by the authorities at the suspects’ vehicle.
The four kidnappers broke through several police checkpoints set up on the highway after they kidnapped a truck driver with the intent to ransom him.
The suspects were identified by police as Pradip Gogoi of Dibrugarh, Tulan Phukan of Lakhimpur, Pranjal Gogoi of Tinsukia and Dip Das of Bugaghat, all in Assam. The kidnapped driver, who was released after his captors realised they were being pursued by the police, has been identified as Preenchand Kumar Mali from Jharkhand.
Police described using “controlled force” in firing at the kidnappers’ getaway vehicle.
According to Ri-Bhoi Additional Superintendent of Police Banrap Jyrwa, the involvement of the suspects in extortion and kidnapping was revealed through information provided by Mali.
“Based on information from the kidnapped driver, we set up checkpoints at Umsning, Saiden and Nongpoh. The robbers were apprehended at Nongpoh after we used reasonable force to stop their vehicle, a white Scorpio without registration number,” Jyrwa said. “The driver of the Scorpio tried to escape forcibly, leading us to intercept the vehicle at Downgate Nongpoh.”
All four suspects are in custody and investigations are ongoing to ascertain whether they were involved in other kidnap, robbery or extortion cases.
