Maha: 6 held for abducting three Rajasthan-based businessmen

Six persons, including a policeman, were arrested in Maharashtra's Thane district for allegedly abducting three Rajasthan-based businessmen and demanding a ransom of Rs 1 crore, police said Monday.

Police said that businessmen Devanand Vardani and Rounak Saini, hailing from Udaipur in Rajasthan, are directors in a firm that gives loans against property.

"One of the accused Lenin Kuttivatte knew Vardani. He, along with his accomplices, got accused Omprakash Jaiswal to pose as a builder and seek a Rs 10 crore loan from Vardani," an official said.

Vardani and Saini arrived in Thane Friday to check the documents of the property that Jaiswal claimed he would mortgage for the loan, said police.

"Vardani and Saini were then abducted by the accused and a ransom of Rs 1 crore was sought. The amount was brought down to Rs 25 lakh following which a friend of Vardani arrived from Udaipur by road with the money," the official said.

The friend too was asked to leave the car in which he had travelled from Udaipur and was bundled into the abductors' vehicle, police said.

"The driver of the car, in which the friend carrying the ransom money had travelled from Udaipur, managed to note down the registration number of the abductors' vehicle and relayed it to an acquittance in Mumbai's Borivali area," he said.

This Borivali-resident passed on the number to the police, and the Anti-Extortion Cell of Thane police Saturday managed to zero in on the abductors' car at APMC market at Kalyan, an official said.

"The car was stopped, the abductors were arrested and Rs 25 lakh was recovered. Vardani, Saini and the friend were rescued," he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Deepak Deoraj told reporters Monday that six persons had been charged for kidnapping and other offences under the Indian Penal Code, the Bombay Police Act and Arms Act.

The DCP identified the six as Lenin Kuttivatte (40), Rohit Shelar (20), Omprakash Jaiswal (23), Abhishek Jha (40), Sagar Salve (37) and Mumbai policeman Tukaram Mudgan (43).