Trio, including driver, arrested for kidnapping, extorting ₹60L from CA

MUMBAI: Three men were arrested on Sunday for allegedly kidnapping a chartered accountant (CA) from Western Express Highway (WEH) on May 8, and extorting ₹60 lakh from him. The arrested trio included the driver of the CA.

According to the Samta Nagar police, the complainant identified as Vishnukumar Agarwal, 42, was returning home along with his driver, Sagar Pawar, when the accused Kiran Bhosle, 34, and Mangesh Karande, 35, intercepted his vehicle and on knifepoint extorted ₹60 lakh from him. They also threatened to kill him and his family.

Agarwal in his statement to the police said that around 8pm he was returning to his Kandivali east house from his Andheri office along with his driver Sagar Pawar, 32, and friend Dinesh Pachori, 50.

At the Kandivali East signal, when the car stopped, Pachori got out of the car and said goodbye to him. However, before Pawar could lock the doors of the car, two men got inside the vehicle and threatened Agarwal with knife points. Agarwal asked them to leave him alone, but the two men told him that they would harm him and his family if he did not pay them ₹5 crore.

Agarwal told them that he did not carry such a huge amount and did not have that much cash at home as well. On asking Agarwal said that he could give them ₹20 lakh but the two men refused to accept the amount, and eventually compelled Agarwal to agree to pay them ₹60 lakh.

He then asked Pawar to drive towards his house. Agarwal then called his wife and asked her to put ₹60 lakh in a trolley bag collected by Pawar and one of the accused while the second accused stayed with Agarwal in the car. The accused asked Pawar to keep the bag on the hood of the car and drive towards a lane in Kandivali East where there were no streetlights, he said, adding that they then asked Pawar to get out of the car and leave.

“After a few minutes the men threatened Agarwal to not approach the police and left the spot,” said a police officer from Samta Nagar police station.

The police said they have registered a case against the two men under sections 323 (assault), 34 (common intention), 364 (a) (kidnapping or abduction where the person is put to death or hurt; or a person is threatened with death or murdered, on demand of ransom), 386 (extortion), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

On recording the statement of Pawar, the police found some discrepancies. On questioning him, he confessed to the police that he had plotted the kidnapping and extortion along with his associates to extort money from his employer.

“We have arrested the three men and produced them before the court on Monday where they were remanded to police custody for four days,” said a police officer from Samta Nagar police station.