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It was kidnap, mistaken identity, says Exide's Ganguly

Arup Chanda in Calcutta

Exide chairman Satyabrata Ganguly, who returned home this morning after seven days, has created another mystery which only the police can solve if they interrogate him thoroughly.

A visibly tired Ganguly told a battery of newsmen at his residence this evening that he was kidnapped but the kidnappers did not demand any ransom. "It was a case of mistaken identity. They wanted to kidnap someone else but by mistake took me."

No, Ganguly does not remember anything as he was blindfolded the moment the kidnappers overpowered him on last Friday morning when he was on his way to the Agri Horticulture Gardens for his morning walk.

He said that all the seven days he was kept blindfolded and was put on an air-conditioned three-tier coach of a train. The kidnappers told him that he could remove the blindfold only after he was inside the train and gave him Rs 225.

Ganguly does not even remember whether the train entered the new or the old complex of Howrah station. He does not even know where his captors had kept him.

"After the train reached Howrah, I took a taxi and came home".

While corporate circles have heaved a sigh of relief after Ganguly's return, the state administration particularly the Calcutta Police is extremely peeved. The entire police force had been on toes as West Bengal chief minister, Jyoti Basu, and home minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, had given top priority to the case.

There is no doubt that Ganguly had embarrassed the state government with his sudden disappearance. However, according to the existing law no case can be registered against a missing person though a large amount of public money has been wasted in this case.

This was the first time in the corporate history of Calcutta that a top executive had been "kidnapped" but came back safely with an explanation which none is willing to buy.

Ganguly 'contacted' family, says WB govt

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