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Three held in Pune for kidnapping 18-year-old
PUNE Three people, including a plastering contractor, were arrested by the Pune police crime branch on Thursday, for kidnapping an 18-year-old office boy who worked for a local builder
PUNE Three people, including a plastering contractor, were arrested by the Pune police crime branch on Thursday, for kidnapping an 18-year-old office boy who worked for a local builder.
The teen was kidnapped over unpaid work bills worth ₹14 lakh, police said.
The arrested men have been identified as Akash Sugriv Ghodeswar (29), and Rahul Balu Ghorpade (22), both residents of Lakshminagar in Yerawada.
The contractor Jaysingh Rathod is a resident of Gadital, Hadapsar, according to officials of the crime branch.
The kidnapped man was identified as Dheeraj Rajshekhar Hiremath (18), a resident of Wadgaon Dhayari, while the complainant was identified as Saikumar Shivmurti Javalkotti (51), a resident of Sinhagad road, according to the police.
“Jaysingh Rathod, who is a contractor, had done work for the builder. The builder owed him ₹14 lakh. Rathod tried to utilise some middlemen, but when it did not work out, he hatched this plan and kidnapped the office boy. The anti-extortion cell team tracked and arrested them,” said Bachchan Singh, deputy commissioner of police, crime, Pune.
Hiremath was kidnapped from the Warje-based office of the builder on Wednesday afternoon. Post his kidnapping, the captors started using multiple phone numbers to contact the builder and demanded ₹two lakh in exchange for Hiremath’s return.
However, the teenager escaped from confinement after the kidnappers started drinking alcohol, according to officials of the crime branch.
“They had plans of kidnapping other people around the builder to coax the entire amount from him. Two people are still on the run in the case,” said an official close to the investigation.
The arrest was made by anti-extortion team led by senior police inspector Balaji Pandhre and police sub- inspector (PSI) Vijay Zanjaad. PSI SA Gaikwad is investigating the matter further.
A case under Sections 363 (kidnapping) and 385 (extortion) of Indian Penal Code has been registered at the Warje Malwadi police station against at least five people.
