4 arrested for kidnapping businessman from Dombivli, demanding ransom of ₹50 lakh

The Dombivli Manpada police arrested four accused for kidnapping a plywood businessman from his shop in Dombivli and demanding a ransom of ₹50 lakh on August 3; the accused held him in one of the villages in Shahapur; the police rescued him from there and arrested the accused

The Dombivli Manpada police arrested four accused for abducting a plywood businessman from his shop in Dombivli and demanding a ransom of ₹50 lakh on August 3.

Four persons were arrested for kidnapping a plywood businessman from Dombivli and demanding a ransom of ₹50 lakh. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The accused held him in one of the villages in Shahapur, the police rescued him from there and arrested the accused.

The victim, Himmat Nahar, 45, runs a plywood business with his nephew and stays in a joint family. On Wednesday, when he was in his shop, one of the accused, Sanjay Vishwakarma, 39, came to the shop to buy plywood worth ₹3 lakh. The accused is seen on the CCTV footage of the shop. Vishwakarma knew Nahar as the two had done business earlier. He told Nahar that since he did not have cash, he would get it from an ATM. He returned in the afternoon saying he didn’t get the cash and convinced Nahar to come along to a nearby bank.

An officer from Manpada police station said, “As soon as Nahar got into their SUV, the other three accused were already present in the car and tied him up, took his phone and drove him to a small house in Shahapur. At around 9.30pm, his nephew, Jitu Nahar, got a phone call demanding a ransom of ₹50 lakh within one hour if they wanted Nahar alive. Once they arranged the cash, the accused said they would inform them about the location to drop the ransom.”

The accused called from different locations, making it difficult to trace the phone, and later switched off the phone.

Sunil Kurade, Assistant Police Commissioner, said, “The accused were calling Nahar’s nephew every two hours and asked him to come to a certain location and then changed the location after he reached there. In a similar way, they called him near Gotheghar village of Shahapur Taluka. After Jitu reached the spot with a bag of cash, the accused asked to deliver the bag but Jitu was reluctant to give it until they handed over his uncle. The accused argued with each other to arrive at a decision. Taking advantage of the situation, our team covered them from all sides and arrested the four. They took us to a small house where the victim was held. We rescued him safely.”