Khopoli police arrest 5 for kidnapping businessman from Pune

The five accused have been arrested for kidnapping the businessman from Pune for a ₹25 lakh ransom; Khopoli police on night patrol found a car suspiciously parked with mud pasted on the number plates on both the sides

A chance encounter with five persons in a car during night patrolling led the Khopoli police to uncover a kidnapping case of a Pune-based businessman.

Khopoli police arrest five for kidnapping a businessman from Hinjewadi in Pune. (HT FILE)

The five accused have been arrested for kidnapping him for a ransom of ₹25 lakh. Cops on night patrol on Thursday found a car suspiciously parked with mud pasted on the number plates on both the sides. The team found six people in the car. On questioning, they did not give a proper answer and hence were taken to Khopoli police station for interrogation.

“While questioning each of them, one of the six pleaded with us to save him from the others. That was when we realised that the five accused had kidnapped him from Pune and were on the run for three days. The accused had confined him in Ambernath and were taking him to another place when they got caught,” senior police inspector Shirish Pawar from Khopoli police station said.

The five men had kidnapped the businessman three days back and were demanding a ransom of ₹25 lakh from the family. The Pune police were still looking for the kidnappers.

The arrested accused have been identified as Vaaman Maruti Shinde (39 yrs), Yogendra Prasad (25), Dileep Sattan Paswan (32), Dhurupchandra Yadav (33) and Sandeep Prakash Sonawane (35). While the one rescued is Digambar Indalsingh Chitodiya (32). Chitodiya is into the making of Ayurvedic medicines and owes some money to Shinde.

Shinde and the others hired for kidnapping, abducted Chitodiya from Hinjewadi in Pune. The accused have been handed over to Hinjewadi police by Khopoli police.