The couple went missing in Gaya district.
Four days after a prominent doctor and his entrepreneur wife were allegedly kidnapped from Bihar's Gaya district, the state government today transferred the area's police chief and replaced him with an officer who previously served as Patna's Superintendent of Police.
There has been no trace of Dr Pankaj Gupta and his wife since Friday. The couple was returning from a relative's marriage in Jharkhand, and suddenly went missing as they entered Gaya.
Dr Gupta is one of Gaya's most prominent doctors and his wife runs a saree showroom in the city.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said, "It will take some time but we are investigating this from all angles. The safe return of the doctor is a challenge for us."
In Gaya town, meanwhile, doctors and businessmen registered token protests by wearing black bands and organising a prayer meeting. "Going on a strike is the last resort. We are praying that the police will safely bring back the doctor and his wife," said Mr Hari Prakash Kejriwal, President of the Central Bihar Chamber of Commerce.
According to the complaint lodged by the missing doctor's brother Neeraj Gupta, the doctor last responded to a telephone call from his compounder on Friday afternoon, when he informed that he was near Barhi which is under the jurisdiction of Barachatti police station.
But when the compounder tried calling the doctor again, the phone was switched off, said police.
A case of kidnapping has been registered with Barachatti police station. Investigators are now looking at old and new kidnapping gangs of Bihar as well as neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. The cops also say no ransom call has been received so far.
This is an election year in Bihar, and the opposition BJP has alleged that the alliance between Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav has led to a breakdown of the law and order situation across the state.