Meerut, Oct 11 : Sudhir Mahajan, the owner of BDM, a leading sports goods manufacturer and exporter, was found tied to a tree in a jungle near Khatauli town of Muzaffarnagar district late on Wednesday evening by police.
SSP Meerut K Satya Narayana told reporters last night that the driver Ravi Pal appeared to be the mastermind in this abduction case.
The SSP said, based on a call for Rs 2 crore ransom that came on the driver's cellphone, police zeroed in on the area where Mahajan was held, and rescued him.
Three criminals have been arrested and they include Hem Singh Ravi and Sushil, who planned the kidnapping act, the SSP said.
Expressing relief over his safe rescue, Sudhir Mahajan said, he could never believe it could happen.
Describing the abduction, Mahajan said, the driver stopped the car near Defence Colony bridge to check a tyre puncture, and suddenly two armed persons came and sat near him inside the car.
"They put a cloth over my eye and I don't know where they took me. In the day time, the abductors left me. I came out and asked the villagers who told me there was police combing in the area. Somebody rang up the police, and the police came within two minutes and rescued me.
"I think I was released due to police pressure", said Mahajan.
Mahajan was abducted late Tuesday while he was headed home.
Earlier, the abductors had demanded Rs.2 crore from the businessman's family, Deputy Inspector General of Police Zaki Ahmad said.
Mahajan was abducted late Tuesday when he was headed to his Defence Colony residence at the Mawana road here. He left his factory at the Sports Goods Complex on Delhi road in his car around 8.30 p.m.
According to police, the manufacturer of BDM cricket kit had stopped briefly to buy some paint boxes from the market.
Around 10.30 p.m., the driver stopped the car around 300 metres before Defence Colony to check some noise in the boot space where the paint boxes were kept.
However, when he was heading back to his seat, three kidnappers pounced on him from a nearby bush and forced themselves into the car and held the driver and the businessman at gunpoint, police said.
Around 11.30 p.m., Mahajan's son Siddharth received a text message and a phone call in which the kidnappers demanded Rs.2 crore for releasing his father, according to a police official.
The second ransom call was received Wednesday morning, he said.
Police had found the businessman's car abandoned around 30 km away at Pilana on Mawana road in the Phalawda area Wednesday morning.
