The Wagale Estate police have arrested seven members of a family including two women for abducting a 20-year-old call centre employee and locking him in a room. The accused was lured by his girlfriend, also one of the accused, who set a trap for him to meet her at Vasai. The other members of her family, including her father, uncle and aunt, forced her into a car and took him to an unknown spot, locked him in a room and demanded a ransom of ₹4 lakh from the man’s family.
The victim was also allegedly assaulted by the accused.
The man, Abhishek Pradeep Gupta, works in a call centre in a well-known IT park in Wagale Estate, Thane (West). On Saturday, around 3.15pm, Gupta received a call from Nargis Shaikh, his girlfriend, to meet her near a Dhaba in Vasai. A police officer said, “Shaikh and Gupta both hail from Uttar Pradesh. Since Gupta was in a relationship with Shaikh, he did not see the trap, He reached the spot to meet her.”
There he saw few unknown persons, whom he claimed forcefully made him sit in their SUV. The accused identified as Mohammed Javed alias Nanne Madat Ali Shaikh 40, Mohammed Parvez Abdul Rehman Shaikh 29, Sabina Parvez Shaikh 31, Nargiz Shaikh 20, Amit Pirdhankar 28, Arun Panikar 24 and Lokesh Pujari 24 are all residence of Virar.
The officer added, “All the seven of them were present in the car and drove with him towards Manhor Highway. He was then hit on the head and hands with an iron rod and suffered injuries. Javed, Nargis’s father, then asked Gupta to call his brother and demand ₹4 lakh. He also threatened to kill him if he did not give them the money.”
{{/usCountry}}The officer added, “All the seven of them were present in the car and drove with him towards Manhor Highway. He was then hit on the head and hands with an iron rod and suffered injuries. Javed, Nargis’s father, then asked Gupta to call his brother and demand ₹4 lakh. He also threatened to kill him if he did not give them the money.”
{{/usCountry}}Accordingly, Gupta’s brother was called at the Virar flat of the girl’s Uncle Parvez and aunt Sabina. The police during an investigation found Nargis and her family hails from Varanasi and came to Mumbai a few years ago. The police suspect his father wanted to get Nargis married and needed cash.
The team of police officers from Wagale Estate raided the Virar flat and rescued Gupta who was badly injured. “We have arrested all the seven accused and also seized the vehicle used in the crime,” said DS Dhole, senior police inspector, Wagle estate police station.
The Wagle Estate police have registered a case under section 364 (A), 386, 387, 342 and 34 of the Indian penal code. “The accused were arrested on Sunday and produce in court on Monday. They are remanded to police custody till November 5,” said Amol More, assistant police inspector, Wagle estate police station.