Five held for kidnapping, assaulting garage owner

Five men have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and assaulting a garage owner at Kondhwa in Maharashtra's Pune city, following a dispute over financial transactions, police said on Wednesday.

Sehar Shaikh (36), Matin Khan (24), Rahil Shaikh (24), Ubed Shaikh (24) and Siddique Shaikh (28) were arrested for kidnapping, assaulting, stripping and parading Raj Shinge, an official from Kondhwa police said.

Shinge is friends with one of the accused Sehar Shaikh, who would bring high-end cars for repairs to his garage in Kondhwa and take a commission, the official said.

While billing, the complainant would charge customers extra and the additional amount would then be given to the accused as his commission, he said.

When the accused sought Rs 4.5 lakh as a commission from Shinge for a recent job, the latter refused, the official said.

On the intervening night of November 16 and 17, the accused, with the help of his friends, forcibly took Shinge in a car, thrashed him, snatched his gold chain, stripped and paraded him, he said.

A case has been registered under sections 395 (dacoity), 385 (extortion), 364A (kidnapping) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.