UP villagers, cops save trader, kill 3 abductors

Four people, including three kidnappers, were killed and three others injured today as a group of villagers and policemen rescued a business...

Four people, including three kidnappers, were killed and three others injured today as a group of villagers and policemen rescued a businessman from his abductors in Chiraikot area of Mau district, about 100 km from here, police said.

The villagers and policemen surrounded five persons while they were taking away businessman Kedarnath Agrawal. In the ensuing encounter, three kidnappers and a villager—identified as Pramod Ram—were killed, they said.

Two of the five abductors managed to escape, police said, adding that a hunt has been launched to nab them.

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Two of the deceased abductors were identified as Ravi Sevar, a criminal of Azamgarh carrying a reward of Rs 20,000, and Banti Rai, also of the same district, police said. Three injured villagers have been hospitalised—the condition of one of them was stated to be serious.

A pistol, two magazines and a large quantity of cartridges were seized from the abductors, police said.

The five kidnappers, in police uniforms, had abducted Agrawal and his wife Sumitra Devi while they were going for a morning walk in Bhelupura, police said. The kidnappers later freed the woman at an isolated spot in Ghazipur district.