3 held for abduction, murder of Jharkhand quack

Seraikela (Jharkhand), Aug 29 (PTI) A day after the abduction and murder of a 57-year-old quack in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharswan district, the police on Friday claimed to have cracked the case by arresting three persons.

A senior police officer on Friday said the accused had demanded Rs 20 lakh as ransom and strangulated Brihaspati Mandal, a resident of Chota Sijulta village under Rajnagar police station.

After killing him, they dumped the body on the roadside near Sukarbhalki village under Kowali police station in East Singhbhum district, about 34 km from the spot, Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar Lunayat told a press conference.

He said that Seraikela-Kharswan police with the help of its East Singhbhum district counterpart arrested the three accused, all of whom were in their mid-20s.

The car without a registration number used in the crime has been impounded.

The police also recovered the ‘gamcha’ (traditional towel) with which they strangulated Mandal, the SP said.

The Indian Medical Association, Jamshedpur Chapter, said Mandal was not a qualified doctor but his son is a dentist.

Meanwhile, a report from Ramgarh said four people wanted in several cases in Ramgarh and neighbouring Hazaribag district have been arrested from a road construction site allegedly for attempting to extort money from a contractor.

The incident happened in the Dewariya panchayat area under the jurisdiction of Patratu block of Ramgarh district, a senior police officer said on Friday.

The criminals were arrested during a raid conducted by a police team headed by the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Ramgarh), Birendra Kumar.

Two motorcycles and as many as 14 Android mobile phones were recovered, the police said.