Thane, Sep 25 (PTI) With the arrest of ten persons including two suspended Mumbai fire brigade employees, Thane police on Wednesday claimed to have successfully cracked a case of the kidnapping of a builder’s son.
The main accused, the firemen, were suspended in a recruitment scam two months ago, and allegedly planned the kidnapping as they had to pay back huge amounts, police said.
A 20-year-old son of a Thane-based builder was abducted from his car in the district on Tuesday, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr Sudhakar Pathare.
The kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 40 crore, he said.
After the builder approached Ambernath police, a First Information Report was registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 140 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder or for ransom).
Police formed eight teams comprising 15 officials and 80 policemen in plain clothes to conduct probe, the DCP said.
The accused later settled down for a ransom of Rs 2 crore, and asked the builder to send the money through an Ola cab.
Police followed the cab, and the kidnappers, after sensing that police were on their tracks, released the victim near Pise dam in the district, the official said.
Police then tracked down the accused by approaching the dealer who had sold them SIM cards, the DCP said.
A car, a country-made pistol with three cartridges, an air pistol, one iron kife, nylon rope, mask and five mobile phones valued at Rs 12,62,350 in total were seized.
Of the arrested men, Devidas Waghmare and Dattatreya Pawar were firemen working with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and had allegedly collected a total of Rs 2.75 crore from job seekers promising them jobs in the BMC fire department, the police official said.
A case for cheating was registered against them at Agripada police station in July and they were suspended. While on bail, they allegedly hatched the kidnapping conspiracy to pay back the money they owed to the scam victims, the DCP said. Further probe was on. PTI COR KRK
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