A 22-year-old ITI student, Surendra Pal, was allegedly abducted by unidentified persons from Aligarh district in Uttar Pradesh, earlier this week, when he had gone to his farm. His family has now received a message on the mobile phone, demanding a ransom of Rs 20 lakh for his release. Surendra's uncle, Shyodan Singh, said his nephew had gone to the farm in Bajhera village on Monday and had been missing since. They tried to search for him at every possible place, but failed.

"We received a message on my son's cell phone number on Tuesday, demanding a ransom Rs 20 lakh," said Singh, adding that they immediately informed police. The message sender's mobile number has been switched off since then, he said. SSP Muniraj G (now transferred) said the phone's last location was traced to Hyderabad. "Teams have been formed and he will be rescued soon," said the SSP, adding that an FIR was registered into the case. Last year June, a 27-yr-old lab technician from Kanpur was killed within a week of kidnapping that had turned murky for the state police. Rs 30 lakh was demanded in that case."