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Man abducted in Bengal for antique coins he never possessed
Police cited preliminary investigation and added two of the alleged abductors, Sheetal Agarwal and Shanawaz Mollah, were interested in the deal because they collect antique coins
Police in West Bengal have arrested six people for allegedly abducting a man to get 19th-century antique coins worth ₹20 lakh he falsely boasted of possessing. Investigators cited the probe so far and added the man was trying to cheat the six men by claiming to have the coins.
“We received a complaint from a woman alleging that her brother Akash Sardar was kidnapped by a few men and that the abductors have demanded a ransom of ₹20 lakhs. Six persons have been arrested from Bansdroni in south suburban Kolkata,” said Maqsood Hassan, additional police superintendent, Baruipur.
Sardar allegedly took ₹20,000 advance from the six with the promise that he would hand over to them the coins in a few days as he had to steal them from his home. He later told the six the coins were not with his family anymore and he could arrange them. “But when he failed to give the coins and was also not refunding the money, the men abducted him and demanded a ransom of ₹20 lakh, thinking that if they do not get the coins they would get the ransom of an equal amount,” said a second police officer.
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Police cited preliminary investigation and added two of the alleged abductors, Sheetal Agarwal and Shanawaz Mollah, were interested in the deal because they collect antique coins. “They first demanded the coins as ransom. But when the family members said that there were no such coins, they demanded a ransom of ₹20 lakh,” said a third officer.
Police arrested the six after they sent Sardar’s sister with a bag to Bansdroni to hand over the ransom amount to the abductors. When two of the accused came to receive the money, a police team accompanying her intercepted them. Sardar was later rescued from a car parked nearby while the other four alleged abductors were also arrested.
