Mumbai: Kin of underworld don questioned in kidnapping case

The police had questioned the relative of a gangster in connection with the kidnapping and extortion of the 17-year-old son of a Mumbai-based hotelier. However, he was let off later, as the police found he had no role to play in the case.

The police had questioned the relative of a gangster in connection with the kidnapping and extortion of the 17-year-old son of a Mumbai-based hotelier. However, he was let off later, as the police found he had no role to play in the case.

The 17-year-old was kidnapped at knifepoint on Saturday evening, and a ransom of Rs 10 lakh was demanded from his friends.

Based on the complaint filed by the victim’s parents, the police arrested Hariz Faizan Khan, 19, Riyaz Sultan Ansari, 21, Faiz Abdul Gani Shaikh, 20 and Shahbaz Imtiyaz Shaikh, 19. Their aide Sonu (full name not known) is still absconding. The police have, so far, recovered Rs6 lakh of the Rs7.4 lakh taken from victim’s friends.

According to the police, the victim, Khan and the kin of the underworld don lived a lavish life. Khan often bragged using the gangster’s name, the police said. Recently, the kin of the gangster learned that Khan and his other friends, including the victim, are flaunting his name. He then asked a friend to call the victim at Maratha Mandir to talk about it on January 24. Scared, the victim contacted Khan and asked him to come along.

“Khan, who already had a plan to kidnap the victim for ransom, thought this was the right time to strike. He promised the victim he could go alone and settle the matter in the meeting with the friend of the don’s relative. However, when the don’s friend reached the spot, he told him the victim had left,” a police officer said.

Khan then sent two of his friends to kidnap the victim from outside a cake shop at Crystal Tower in Agripada in a taxi. They forced the victim to get into a taxi, roamed around in Bandra area, changed a taxi and released him after getting the money, at Lilavati Hospital, the officer said.