Saturday, January 7 2006 13:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: A massive search operation is being carried out to rescue kidnapped garment shop owner Prashant Jain who remained traceless for the third day today (Jan 07, 2006) even as protests for his early recovery continued.

Senior police superintendent Kundan Krishnan told sources from Bakhtiarpur that police had gathered vital clues in the abduction case following the recovery of the car used by the criminals and had also identified the gang involved.

"A massive search operation continued in the riverine areas of Mokama and Barh to pressure the kidnappers to let off Prashant unharmed," he said adding two persons have been detained for interrogation.

Police said they suspect the involvement of the notorious Tunni Singh gang in the kidnapping.

According to state Home Secretary H C Sirohi, there was enough evidence to suggest that Prashant's kidnapping was the result of his willingness to reopen the Shilpi-Gautam murder case.

Prashant's sister Shilpi and her alleged boyfriend Gautam had died under mysterious circumstances in July 1999.

"Those involved in the Shilpi-Gautam case may be fearing that they will be exposed if the twin death case is reopened," Sirohi said, adding that he did not rule out involvement of political bigwigs in the kidnapping case.