Kidnapped Satyam official rescued

Sources in the Hyderabad Police have told NDTV that V Satyanaryana, General Manager of Satyam Computers, who was kidnapped on Tuesday has been rescued from Warangal district.

He will be back in the state capital later in the day. Police sources say at least four people have been arrested in this regard.

He had been missing ever since he went to drop his children to school on Tuesday morning. His wife received a phone call from him an hour later after which she lodged a complaint with the Hyderabad police.

Chain of events

Around 9:30 am, Satyanarayana's wife Kiran got a call from Satyanarayana who said he had a meeting and will be returning soon. She called up his office two to three hours later and came to know that there is no such meeting.

She got suspicious and lodged a complaint with the police. Search is on for Satyanarayana.

The only clue was that the driver said a chowkidar told him Satyanarayana had left by another car. His wife did not want to give a photograph of her husband to NDTV since she wanted to keep the matter private.

However, Kiran received a call from her husband who told her he had been kidnapped and gave some sense of solace to her by saying he was all right and will return soon.

She said she received the call from his mobile phone and was at the police station awaiting news of her husband.

''Nothing like this has ever happened to our family. We do not have any land dispute. I have full faith in God,'' said Vedula, Satyanarayana's father.

The family is from Vizag. Vedula has another son who is in the US.

He said this was probably done by rivals who could have been observing him at his office and on his way back home.

Police sources said car driver saw Satyanarayana going into the school where he had gone to drop his child.

The driver waited outside for him for quite a while and only after he got a call from Satyanarayana's wife asking why it was taking so long, did the driver actually go inside the school to see.

But when he could not find him, he asked the watchman and a couple of autorickshaw drivers at the entrance to the school in Secunderabad whether they had seen him. All of them said no.

No one had actually seen Satyanarayana being kidnapped. There were no eyewitnesses. A couple of hours later his wife got a call from him probably saying he had been kidnapped.

Police say his speech was apparently had not been very clear. His wife came to the conclusion that he had probably been kidnapped and filed a complaint at the Gopalpuram police station.

She refused to speak to NDTV. There are reports that there could be some monetary disputes, but police not really confirming that.

DCP North Zone Shiv Prasad said no suspect has been named by the wife of Satyanarayana.

Satyam Computers had also expressed concern over the incident. In a statement, Satyam said:

''We have learnt of the kidnapping of our associate, Satya Vedula from his family. We are monitoring the situation with the police and are concerned about his safety. We pray for his speedy reunion with his family.''

Sources also told NDTV that the last two phone calls to Satyanarayana's mobile had been traced to Warrangal district and the kidnapping seemed to have been linked to a property dispute.

Sources also said that reportedly Rs 20 lakh had been demanded as ransom.