BHUBANESWAR: A woman police sub-inspector and a journalist were among four people arrested for allegedly kidnapping a 62-year-old businessman from Odisha’s Bolangir district and holding him captive in Bhubaneswar, police said Monday.Hotelier Narendra Sahu was allegedly abducted at gunpoint from Bolangir on August 14 and taken to Bhubaneswar. Police said he was tied up, assaulted and confined in a hotel in the Khandagiri area.Sahu was rescued on August 15 after his family reported him missing when he failed to return home and his mobile phone was found switched off. During the investigation, police examined CCTV footage and traced his vehicle to Bhubaneswar.According to police, prime accused Kshitish Chandra Sahu and his associates abducted Narendra and brought him to the city. They allegedly assaulted him and forced him to pose with a pistol to create the impression that he had kidnapped Kshitish.The accused allegedly recorded the incident and used the video to blackmail Narendra, demanding a ransom of Rs 50 lakh, police said.Kshitish’s sister, Snehamanjari Sahu, a police sub-inspector posted at Khandagiri police station, has also been accused of involvement in the crime.Police said Bhubaneswar-based journalist Sanjay Jena, who is allegedly close to Snehamanjari, impersonated a police officer and escorted Narendra to Khandagiri police station on August 15.Kshitish and his associate Sanjiv Behera were subsequently arrested when they allegedly attempted to file a false counter-complaint against Narendra at the police station, police said. The alleged kidnapping came to light when a special squad reached the station as Narendra was being brought there to lodge the complaint.Bolangir SP Abhilash G said the kidnapping was allegedly planned to extort Rs 50 lakh from the businessman.“The accused SI threatened the victim to register a fake criminal case against him if he fails to pay Rs 50 lakh within 24 hours,” he said.The SP also alleged that the accused misused the police station premises under Snehamanjari’s influence.Himanshu Kumar Lal, inspector general of police, Northern Range, said four people had been arrested and that the investigation was underway to identify and arrest others allegedly involved in the crime.Police also found a possible link between the alleged kidnapping and a rare antique coin known as ‘Hanuman Paisa’, which some people believe has extraordinary wealth-generating or supernatural properties.According to police, Kshitish claimed that he had paid Narendra around Rs 2.7 crore in 2020 for the antique coin but alleged that he neither received the coin nor got his money back.Narendra has denied the allegation. Police said they were investigating this aspect of the case as well.(With PTI inputs)