Five held for kidnapping 80-year-old widow, son over property dispute

Five people have been arrested for kidnapping an 80-year-old woman and her 44-year-old son over a property dispute in Kolhapur district. The woman was rescued, but her son has likely been killed. The gang members, one of whom is the woman's nephew, claim they killed the man and dumped his body along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway. They allegedly tortured the woman to obtain her signatures on property documents. The police suspect the nephew masterminded the plot. One more person has been arrested, and two others are being sought for their alleged involvement in the crime.

MUMBAI: Five persons were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly kidnapping an 80-year-old woman, who is the widow of a retired deputy commissioner of police, and her 44-year-old son over a dispute pertaining to a property at Pachgaon in Kolhapur district, according to Chembur police. The woman has been rescued by the police but her son, according to the police, probably has been killed by the accused.

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The police said the arrested gang members, which includes the woman’s nephew, have claimed that they killed the 44-year-old man and dumped his body along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, but the body is yet to be traced.

The elderly woman, Rohini Vasant Kamble, was rescued from a flat in Royal Palms in Aarey Colony where she was being illegally detained after being taken to various places over almost a month and tortured, purportedly, to obtain her signatures on certain property documents.

Police suspect that Rohini’s nephew was behind the kidnappings and the alleged murder of her son, Vishal Kamble, as he wanted the mother-son duo to sell a piece of land in Kolhapur district and give him a share in the proceeds of the sale.

According to the FIR registered by the Chembur police on April 21, 2023, Vinaya Fansalkar visited the police station and reported that her sister Rohini and Vishal had gone missing since April 4.

She informed the police that the mother-son duo owned land at Pachgaon and they visited Mumbai often over a civil dispute pertaining to their house in Chembur. She said whenever they visited, they stayed in Neelkamal Hotel in Chembur and were staying there when they visited the city on March 14.

Fansalkar informed the police that the two left the hotel around 11 am on April 4, without taking their belongings, and hadn’t returned to the hotel and their mobile phones were found switched off.

During preliminary investigation, based on footages of CCTV cameras and technical analysis of their call details record, the police zeroed in on two suspects – Rohit Amin Admane aka Musa Parkar, a Powai resident and Munir Amin Pathan, a suspended BEST bus driver, who resided in Wadala, said a police officer attached to Chembur police station.

The officer added that two police teams tracked down the two suspects separately and brought them to the police station for questioning on Tuesday afternoon. Their interrogation revealed that they had kidnapped the mother-son duo on April 5 after taking them to Panvel under the guise of showing them some property and held them against their will in a house there.

The suspects also revealed that they had killed Vishal and dumped his body along Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, but the police are yet to trace the body. Rohini was taken to various places before she was detained in a flat in Royal Palms in Aarey Colony – to forcibly obtain her signatures on documents, the officer added.

A police team then went to Royal Palms late on Tuesday night and rescued Rohini, who was being guarded by Raju Babu Darvesh, 40, a Mira Road resident and Jyoti Waghmare, 33, a Mankhurd resident. Rohini was then rushed to Rajawadi Hospital, as she was unwell and was apparently given some sedatives, the officer said.

The police have also apprehended one Pranay Ramteke the son of Rohini’s brother in connection with the kidnapping and murder and suspect that he was the mastermind of the entire plot. The police are also on the lookout of two others - Saira Khan and Irfan Shaikh - for their alleged involvement in commission of the crime.