A 22-year-old truck cleaner who was allegedly abducted by former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar’s father, Dilip Khedkar, told Navi Mumbai police that he was locked in the watchman’s room, fed stale food, and threatened with murder.
Pralhad Kumar, 22, from Turbhe MIDC in Navi Mumbai, was allegedly abducted on September 13 after the truck he worked on grazed Dilip Khedkar’s Land Cruiser at a traffic junction on Mulund-Airoli Road.
Puja Khedkar is said to have kept him captive, demanding compensation from the truck’s owner for the damage.
In his statement, Kumar said that following an argument between Dilip Khedkar, his driver Praful Salunkhe, and the truck driver over the incident in Navi Mumbai, they abducted him, claiming they were taking him to the police station. Instead, he was taken to their residence in Pune on Saturday evening.
Kumar alleged that once inside the vehicle, his mobile phone was snatched from him and he was threatened to remain silent. Upon reaching the house, he was locked in a room that appeared to be intended for a watchman or cook.
He was given stale food, and the truck owner was contacted with demands for compensation for the damage to their car, The Indian Express reported, quoting a police officer saying, “They threatened to kill him if the money was not paid.”
{{/usCountry}}He was given stale food, and the truck owner was contacted with demands for compensation for the damage to their car, The Indian Express reported, quoting a police officer saying, “They threatened to kill him if the money was not paid.”
{{/usCountry}}Kumar was rescued early on Sunday by a team from the Navi Mumbai police, who reached the Pune residence following a complaint lodged by the truck owner.
During the investigation, police found that in an attempt to destroy evidence related to the abduction, Manorama Khedkar, Dilip Khedkar’s wife, had allegedly handed over the keys to the room to someone else, and the digital video recorder (DVR) for the CCTV cameras had been removed.
In addition to the initial kidnapping charges, the police have now added allegations of extortion and destruction of evidence against the accused. While the bodyguard, Praful Salunkhe, has been taken into custody, police are actively searching for the Khedkar couple, who remain at large.
Last year, the Centre had dismissed Dilip Khedkar’s daughter, Puja Khedkar, from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) after she was found guilty of cheating and wrongly claiming benefits under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category and the disability quota.