The district headquarters of Bara remained tense all day after unidentified gunmen kidnapped the son of prominent industrialist Gopal Agrawal Wednesday morning.

Gopal’s 8-year-old son Navaneet Agrawal was abducted by four armed men from his residence in Kalaiya in the wee hours of the morning, police said.

Protesting the abduction, local people and businessmen closed down Kalaiya bazaar from the morning, burning tyres and chanting slogans in front of the District Administration Office (DAO).

Navneet’s family members and human rights activists have demanded the safe release of the child.

Kathmandu valley and Terai towns have witnessed increase of kidnappings of members of business community, especially of Marwari community in recent months. According to various reports, from the Marwari community alone, there have been 28 kidnappings since the beginning of this year in the capital. Most of the kidnap victims were released on payment of ransom of up to Rs 1 million.

In a separate incident, an unidentified group kidnapped 42-year-old Krishna Adhikari from his residence in Gongabu of Kathmandu Tuesday evening. Police said that they were searching for Adhikari who originally hails from Tanahu.