Uttar Pradesh Police suspect the hand of a Bihar legislator in the kidnapping of two National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) officials, one of whom was freed after a week in captivity.

The arrest of a retired police constable - from whose house in Gorakhpur engineer K.K. Singh was recovered Friday - has provided leads about the involvement of a Bihar legislator in the crime, a senior police official told IANS.

The legislator, who has a long list of criminal cases pending against him in Bihar, is alleged to have masterminded the abduction that took place last week.

Singh has revealed that the gang's target was the NHPC chairman who had gone on an inspection of a project in Bihar, the police official said.

"Taking either Singh or general manager T. Mandal to be the chairman, the abductors intercepted the vehicle carrying them and whisked them away at gunpoint," the official said.

Uttar Pradesh principal home secretary Alok Sinha told IANS: "Seven abductors were involved in the kidnapping that was carried out in Betia in Bihar and four of them brought the two kidnapped officials to Gorakhpur Thursday."

"After a tip-off, Gorakhpur police raided a house belonging to the relative of one of the members of the gang and that is where Singh was found."

The abductors managed to flee, taking Mandal with them.

But the home secretary was confident that the large contingent of Uttar Pradesh's Special Task Force (STF) would be able to ensure Mandal's release too.

According to a Gorakhpur official, "The abductors have been on the run since we raided the house from where we recovered Singh.

"Now that we have arrested the house owner, who happens to be a retired police head constable, we have enough clues to track down the culprits."

Unconfirmed reports say Mandal has been abandoned in some fields and is in the safe custody of policemen who are using clues provided by him to track down the culprits.
 
--Indo-Asian News Service