Anand, May 9: Ram Sevak Badhayu, the brain behind the kidnapping of a priest from Anand, has been arrested in Uttar Pradesh.

A local crime branch team, headed by PSI Harpalsinh Rathod, which had gone to Uttar Pradesh, have successfully located the kidnapped priest and arrested the accused, police sources said.

The accused, a native of Uttar Pradesh, had taken two temple priests - Pravinbhai Parsottambhai Patel of Gayatri Mandir and Rajubhai M Joshi of Bhimnath Mahadev Mandir from Alarsa village in Anand to Uttar Pradesh on April 25 for Mathura 'darshan'.

The trio had alighted at Kazigunj railway station in Uttar Pradesh. A little while later, Pravinbhai had gone missing. Ram Sevak Badhayu then instructed priest Rajubhai to return back to Alarsa village saying that he would search for Pravinbhai at Kazigunj.

However, no sooner did Rajubhai reach Alarsa, he received a call from Ram Sevak Badhayu informing him that Pravinbhai had been kidnapped by a UP gang and that they had demanded a ransom of Rs 40 lakh for his release.

Rajubhai approached the Borsad police and lodged a complaint on May 1. A complaint was registered against Ram Sevak Badhayu under sections 365 and 342 of the Indian Penal Code on May 2, for kidnapping the temple priest from Alarsa village in Anand district.

The local crime branch team, under Harpalsinh Rathod left for Uttar Pradesh on May 2 after the complaint was filed. The team located Ram Sevak from the area he was calling Rajubhai on the mobile. With the description of Ram Sevak the locals helped the local crime branch to nab the culprit.

Ram Sevak Badhayu and the priest Pravinbhai will be brought here tomorrow evening, sources added.

UNI