Seeing a police-criminal nexus

Interview with Dr. Nagendra Prasad.

Dr. Nagendra Prasad, a government doctor posted in Jamdaha in Hajipur district of Bihar, was kidnapped on October 28. His kidnappers demanded Rs.1 crore as ransom. Prasad was freed after 20 days in solitary confinement as the police started a search for him following an indefinite strike by the State's doctors in the wake of the murder of another doctor, N.K. Agrawal. Excerpts from an interview Dr. Prasad gave Purnima S. Tripathi:

Having returned safely, what is upper-most in your mind?

I am a scared person now. The first thought in my mind now is to carry a rifle instead of a stethoscope because though I escaped, the danger is there. They [kidnappers] had told me that if anyone tried to flee from their custody, they would hound that person out no matter where he was, and kill him: otherwise their terror would be finished and their business [kidnapping for ransom] would be affected.

You were kidnapped in full view of many people and kept in captivity for 20 days. How come the police did not reach you despite there being so many eyewitnesses?

The police act in collusion with these criminals. I could see a police jeep following us, but after a while they [police] changed track and abandoned their chase of the criminals. It simply cannot be done without active help from the police.

Were you ill-treated?

No, except for my solitary confinement in a dark room, there was no other problem. They gave me plenty of good food, including fish, meat, dry fruits and milk. They even got a television set and a VCD [video compact disc] player for my entertainment. The only thing bothering me was the fact that I was locked up all the time with another man carrying a pistol, while others guarded us from outside. I was allowed to go out only once, late in the night, for relieving myself.

Did you ever fear for your life?

Yes. When for seven days they did not either ask me for my phone number or make me speak to my family, I thought maybe they would kill me. Later they told me they were lying low because of pressure from the police.

How confident were you of your safe return?

I had no hope of getting help from the police. But the kidnappers had told me very frankly that if my family gave them the money they would let me go back. I had no option but to believe them.

Now that you are back, what is your immediate concern?

Besides my security, I am worried about my absence from work. I have been asked to apply for earned leave [EL] because there is no provision of accounting for absence from work owing to kidnapping. If I don't have EL, then my absence would be treated as discontinuity of service, with all its disadvantages.