Kidnappers take Rs 50 lakh ransom, kill city bizman

A businessman residing in Ghatkopar was abducted on the Mumbai-Pune expressway on Tuesday evening and was found murdered the next morning in Navi Mumbai despite his family paying a ransom of Rs50 lakh.

A businessman residing in Ghatkopar was abducted on the Mumbai-Pune expressway on Tuesday evening and was found murdered the next morning in Navi Mumbai despite his family paying a ransom of Rs50 lakh.

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The police suspect the crime is the result of a business deal gone wrong. No arrests have been made so far.

Ashish Bansal, 40, owned a scrap processing factory at a village in Khalapur area of Raigad and was on his way back home when he was abducted. “Bansal and his driver were kidnapped from near Bhatan tunnel on the expressway at around 5pm after the kidnappers hit his car and forced it to halt,” said Raigad superintendent of police, RD Shinde.

“Bansal called his residence at night and told his family members that he needed Rs50 lakh urgently to make a business payment. He stressed that it was a matter of prestige for him that the payment be made at the earliest,” Shinde said.

Police say the family members delivered the money to the alleged kidnappers in the Navi Mumbai area believing them to be Bansal’s business associates.

But Bansal was shot dead despite the ransom. “He was shot four times from close range and his body was dumped on Khopoli-Pali road in Raigad.”

The driver, who is the complainant in the case, has told the police that he was released in Kharghar area of Navi Mumbai on Wednesday morning.

The police say that Bansal would not have been shot if the motive was kidnapping as the money was paid. “This appears to be a business-related issue,” Shinde said.