Six laborers from Jehanabad, Bihar, who had traveled to Tamil Nadu’s Erode in search of employment, have reportedly been kidnapped for ransom by local intermediaries. Despite the victims’ families paying up to Rs 20,000 each through PhonePe, the captives were not released. Subsequently, one of the laborers’ fathers filed an application with Jehanabad SP Dipak Ranjan seeking their release.
The laborers, Jitendra Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Valmiki Kumar, Pawan Kumar, Chitranjan Kumar, and Ashok Kumar, all hailing from Maheeda Sarangpur village, had arrived in Erode on September 14 after boarding a train from Jehanabad on September 11. Upon their arrival at Erode’s railway station, local intermediaries allegedly lured them with promising job opportunities and then took them into captivity, confiscating their mobile phones and belongings.
The kidnapper used one of the laborers’ phones on Friday to demand a ransom from his family and threatened dire consequences if the police were alerted. Despite the families sending the ransom, the laborers remained captive. A team led by DSP Rajiv Kumar Singh and the labor superintendent has been formed by the Jehanabad SP to investigate the incident.