PATNA, 7 February 2005 — The Bihar police were yet to heave a sigh of relief after the safe release of abducted schoolboys, Kishlay Kaushal, Deepak Kumar and Ravikant in the state, when reports of two more abductions came to light yesterday.

Prabhakar Kumar Sinha alias Pappu (30), a computer engineer, has been kidnapped from capital Patna. The abductors of the engineer have demanded 20 lakh rupees as ransom for his safe release.

The victim’s father Virendra Kumar Sinha told Arab News that Prabhakar had been missing since Feb. 2 after he left his residence on a motorcycle. Virendra Sinha, who works for Rural Engineering Organization(REO), Ranchi, said that when the family members came to know about the disappearence of Prabhakar, they rushed to Patna and inquired in vain about his whereabouts.

Then his second son Padmakar lodged a missing case with the local police station in Patna. “However, our worst fears came true when the kidnappers called one of Prabhakar’s neighbors and told him they wanted to talk to my wife Urmila,” Sinha said.

In a similar incident, another schoolboy was kidnapped yesterday by gunmen from the house of a retired principal of a school at a village in Bihar’s Samastipur district, police said.

The criminals barged into the house of S. Prasad at Chakhabib village and abducted his 12-year-old nephew, son of Vishnudeo Prasad, the police said.

They also robbed the house of cash and valuables worth over 100,000 rupees in their three-hour operation.

Samastipur police superintendent Meghnath Ram said he had deputed a DSP-rank official to probe the case. Raids are being conducted to trace the boy and nab the culprits, he added. The victim’s family has not recieved any ransom calls as yet.

Pappu Yadav Dares Lalu to Expel Him From Party

Controversial Rashtriya Janata Dal MP from Madhepura, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav has dared party supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav to expel him from the party immediately. Revotling against Lalu for his alleged “highhandedness” in the distribution of tickets ignoring the genuine claims of party workers, the incarcerated Lok Sabha member said he would resign from the membership of the house and the party soon.

“Let me take the oath of the house first and then I will rtesign after informing the people of my constituency,” Pappu Yadav told mediapersons when he was brought to the CBI court for production from Beur Central Jail in connection with the CPI-M MLA Ajit Sarkar murder case.

Saying he did not want to continue in the RJD even for a moment, Pappu Yadav said he would also resign from the primary membership of the party and seek election afresh from Madhepura. He charged the RJD boss with “nominating brokers and touts for contesting the elections” ignoring the grass-root workers.