Police rescue kidnapped share trader, arrest five, including acquaintance

The police said the kidnappers changed the location where the cash was to be delivered several times and eventually, worried about being followed, let go

MUMBAI: The Khar police have arrested five people for allegedly kidnapping a 42-year-old Mira Road-based share trader from a bar in Khar and demanding ransom from his wife. The police said the kidnappers changed the location where the cash was to be delivered several times and eventually, worried about being followed, let go. The police, however, along with the complainant’s wife, Zeba, managed to trace them and rescue the share trader from their clutches.

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According to the police, Kausar Thakar was sitting in a restaurant in Bandra West on Thursday when Viju Manikam Swami alias Tammi landed up there. “Tammi and the complainant had business relations in the past,” said a police officer. “He and his relatives assaulted Thakar, pushed him into a car and took him to Tata Compound in Vile Parle. They then called his wife and demanded ₹10 lakh.”

The police officer said that Thakar’s wife told them she had only ₹8 lakh and could give them that much. “They initially asked her to come to Alpha Mall, Irla,” he said. “They later changed the location to McDonald’s, Andheri, Shoppers Stop, Vile Parle and other places. Finally, afraid that somebody was following them, they just brought the complainant back to Tata Compound, Vile Parle again, where they stole ₹2 lakh from his pocket and the valuables on his person.”

The kidnappers were assaulting Thakar again when Zeba landed up at Tata Compound with the Juhu police team, said the police officer. The accused were then detained and handed over to Khar police station.

The police have registered an offence against Tammi, Suhas Bagwe, Priyanshu Bagwe, Jaya Bagwe, Prashant Jadhav and Boby Swami under Sections 115 (voluntarily causing hurt), 118 (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 140 (kidnapping or abduction for illegal purposes), 308 (extortion), 351 (criminal intimidation) and 352 (intentional insult with the intent to provoke a breach of peace) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Samhita.