Probe into the kidnapping-for-ransom case involving UPSC coaching centre director Shubra Ranjan has revealed that the main accused, Priyank Sharma, hatched the plot to recover losses after his own coaching centre shut down during Covid, police said.
Sharma, son of a retired BHEL official, spent several years in Delhi preparing for the UPSC civil services exam. He appeared three times between 2017 and 2019 but did not clear it. After his third attempt, he opened his own coaching centre.
He had studied at a well-known IAS academy in Delhi and built relationships there, which he later used to negotiate a franchise arrangement with the academy’s director.
“When he made contact with the victim, he made a business proposition. Sharma told Shubra that she did not have any coaching centre in Bhopal or students. That a business deal with him would provide her with the infrastructure and students to set the businesses rolling with low investment,” said a senior crime branch officer.
Police said Sharma concocted the kidnapping plot to recover losses after his centre shut during the Covid lockdown.
During questioning, Sharma allegedly told police the closure wiped out a significant investment. Classes stopped, revenue dried up, and the centre never reopened.
According to the Crime Branch, Sharma spent about two months planning the kidnapping. He allegedly first roped in three trusted associates — Vicky, Deepak and Rohit — and then recruited others from Datia, Rewa and nearby areas. Each was allegedly assigned a specific role, and Sharma held “repeated rehearsals to make sure each of them understood what they were supposed to do and when”. Police said he also “wrote out scripts for the participants, laying out what would be said and done inside the flat once the victims arrived.”
A flat in Bhopal’s Bagsewaniya area was allegedly rented two days before the crime with proper documentation to avoid suspicion. Sharma also arranged a Sundarkand recital there on April 29 evening “so that the sound from inside the flat would be masked and nothing the victims said or did would be heard outside”, the police said.
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A key part of the allegedly involved accomplice Deepak Bhagat, who was instructed to lie still and appear dead when the victims arrived. He was placed inside a locked box.
The other men allegedly told the victims that Deepak had “been killed because he had not followed instructions, and that his body would be disposed of.” Police said the sequence was “planned and rehearsed in advance” to signal consequences of non-compliance without immediate violence.
To lure Shubra to Bhopal, Sharma allegedly contacted her in Delhi with what appeared to be a legitimate business proposal, discussing a new centre, a seminar and expansion plans. She travelled to Bhopal and checked into a five-star hotel, believing it was a business visit.
On April 29 afternoon, between 2 and 3 pm, Sharma allegedly picked her up from the hotel along with two associates from Delhi and drove them to the Bagsewaniya flat. Inside, men with covered faces and visible weapons allegedly staged the planned sequence — including the fake death scene.
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Over the next four hours, the victims were allegedly confined, threatened at gunpoint and forced to transfer Rs 1.89 crore in three instalments into two accounts. A video was also recorded under coercion, which investigators believe was meant to deter them from approaching police.
The victims were allegedly released Wednesday night. A complaint reached the Crime Branch within hours, triggering immediate action. Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar formed a special team and coordinated raids across Bhopal while also freezing the accounts.
As the transactions were digital and traceable, police allegedly blocked the funds before any withdrawal. Kumar said the entire Rs 1.89 crore has been secured and the process to return it has begun.
As police closed in, Sharma was allegedly exploring ways to leave the country and was in touch with agents. He then allegedly admitted himself to the ICU at AIIMS Bhopal, apparently to delay arrest. After receiving a tip-off, police reached the hospital and, after consulting doctors who confirmed he was fit for custody, arrested him.
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Investigators are examining the accounts used, the network that assisted Sharma, and the role of others in his circle. The vehicle and mobile phone used in the crime have been seized.
