Pune, Apr 15 (PTI) A 55-year-old businessman from Pune was allegedly abducted from outside Patna airport and murdered, police said on Tuesday.

After Laxman Shinde’s body was found in Jehanabad district, around 50 km from Patna, police detained several suspects from nearby villages for questioning.

The preliminary investigation suggests that the crime was linked to a sophisticated cyber-led business entrapment scheme, police said.

Shinde, the owner of Centrifugal Casting Bearing located in Khedshivapur in Pune, had travelled to Patna by flight on April 11. However, after sending a message to his daughter around 8:30 PM, in which he mentioned heading to Jharkhand, no further communication was established.

Sambhaji Kadam, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone III), Pune, stated that when the family couldn’t contact Shinde, they filed a missing person’s complaint on April 12 at the Kothrud police station in the city.

“A team of Pune Police was subsequently dispatched to Patna to investigate. With assistance from local police, it was determined that Shinde was abducted outside Patna Airport. The Airport Police Station registered a case under sections 37(2), 140(3), and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita for kidnapping,” Kadam added.

He said Shinde’s body was found on April 14 under the jurisdiction of the Ghosi police station in Jehanabad district.

Police sources suspect that Shinde was murdered on April 12.

“During the investigation, police teams from Nalanda, Gaya, and Patna conducted search operations in nearby villages and detained several suspects,” Kadam said in a statement. PTI SPK NSK