Siliguri: 'Abducted' wholesale vegetable merchant returns home

We are investigating the case and hope to gather all details in another couple of days, says commissioner

Siliguri MLA Sankar Ghosh (first from right) visits Pravakar Singh's house in Champasari, Prafulla Nagar, on Saturday.: Passang Yolmo

TT, Siliguri,  26.06.23 :  A wholesale vegetable merchant who was reportedly abducted at gunpoint from a locality in Siliguri on Saturday returned home on Sunday morning.

Prabhakar Singh, 40, a resident of Champasari in ward 46 of the city, came home on Sunday, police sources said.

“The trader has been found. We are investigating the case and hope to gather all details in another couple of days,” said Akhilesh Chaturvedi, the commissioner of Siliguri Metropolitan Police.

The police are collecting evidence from CCTV cameras fitted in the area and are in search of the vehicle used for the abduction.

Around 6am on Saturday, when Singh was walking towards Siliguri Regulated Market where he runs a wholesale business, some criminals reportedly held him at gunpoint, forced him to sit in a car and drove away.

As the news spread, people from across the society expressed concern over the incident. Also, political leaders, including Shankar Ghosh, the local BJP MLA, had raised questions over the law and order of the city and demanded that the police should trace him immediately.

His wife and parents said they were in the dark.

On Sunday, Dilip Barman, the local councillor, confirmed Singh’s return but said they did not have any idea what transpired on Saturday.

“We have learned that around 4am on Sunday he returned home on his own. We don’t have any idea where he was throughout the day on Saturday. It is up to the police to find out what had happened,” said Barman.

The business fraternity expressed relief at Singh's return but said they wanted the police to find out the truth.