Kidnapped flower vendor rescued in Sangli after a month; one arrested

More than a month after three people kidnapped a flower vendor from Lower Parel and later demanded ₹7 lakh in ransom, the police have rescued him in Sangli

More than a month after three people kidnapped a flower vendor from Lower Parel and later demanded ₹7 lakh in ransom, the police have rescued him in Sangli. One accused has been arrested and a search is on for four more.

Mumbai, India - January 03, 2023: DCP Zone-3 Akbar Pathan addresses the media on the kiddnaping case of Ramesh Kale (2nd Left) solved by NM Joshi Marg police station. Ramesh Kale was held captive for a month by his kidnapper demanding a ransom Rs.7 lakhs, in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, January 03, 2023. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

According to the N M Joshi Marg police, Sunita Kale, 35, a homeless woman, who resides on the footpath opposite Marathon Futurex building at Curry Road, filed a missing complaint.

“She told us that three people lured her husband, Ramesh Bapu Kale, 35, with a big order of decoration and kidnapped him on December 1, 2022,” Akbar Pathan, deputy commissioner of police, zone III, said.

She identified two of the accused - Bapu Chavan, 45, and Vilas Chavan, 34, Pathan said. “The accused would ask her for ransom money via conference calls just to make it difficult for us to trace them.”

A team headed by assistant police inspector Pravin Jadhav and sub-inspector Naushad Tamboli found out that the accused were from Jat taluka in Sangli district and the victim hailed from Osmanabad’s Kalamb taluka.

The accused had initially kept Ramesh in Jat taluka, but later shifted him to Karnataka upon learning about the police movement, Pathan said. “By the time the team reached there, they had fled to some other location.”

On Sunday night, the police managed to arrest the third accused, Santosh Kale, 28, in Sangli. Soon after, the team rescued Ramesh who was held captive in a room.

“He was assaulted; he was also scared as the main accused, Bapu, already has a murder case registered against him in Solapur. He is also wanted in a kidnapping offence registered at Vita police station in Sangli district,” Pathan said.

They all knew each other as Bapu, who was a labour contractor, had hired Ramesh and his relatives and friends to cut sugarcane, the officer said. “Santosh claimed that Ramesh and his friends had taken ₹7 lakh from Bapu but did not turn up for work during the season and therefore, he wanted his money back.”

Apart from Bapu, the police are looking for Vilas, Mayura Chavan, and an unknown person.