rd, his aunt, Shabina Khan (27), called and told his mother to send her son downstairs as she wanted to hand over some keys to him. The plan was to kidnap the victim’s nine-year-old brother, but when the teenager turned up instead, Ms. Khan took him to a pre-decided spot a few minutes away from his house. The other four accused, who were waiting, forced him into an auto rickshaw at knifepoint, assaulting him severely in the process. After kidnapping the victim was first taken to the residence of one of the accused, Sohail Siddiqui aged 33, in Shivaji Nagar. He was then shifted to the office of Sultan Khan aged 26 in the same area the next day. When the boy did not return home till late night, his family approached the Vinoba Bhave Nagar police, and Unit IV of the Crime Branch which initiated parallel inquiries. After the Unit IV officers started making inquiries with their informants the officers learned that some men had been moving together in a suspicious manner in Shivaji Nagar, and that a young boy had been seen with them. The police started watching their movements and picked them up for questioning on Sunday, An officer said they initially denied any involvement in the crime but confessed after sustained inquiries and revealed the entire plot. The teenager was rescued and reunited with his parents on Sunday night. The accused did not give him food for two days, and he was severely traumatized. The first arrested were Mr. Siddiqui and Mr. Sultan. Based on their interrogation, the police then arrested Gufran Shaikh aged 26, whose auto rickshaw was used in the abduction, Jehangir Shaikh aged 28 was holding the victim captive, and Ms. Khan had been pretending to help the victim’s family look for him for the last two days. Mr. Sawant said that Ms. Khan needed to raise money urgently as her family was in heavy debt, and knew that the boy’s father is rich. The plan was to demand Rs.2 crore in ransom and then bargain it down to Rs.50 lakh. To make ransom calls the accused were trying to buy a fresh SIM card which was proving to be difficult as they did not want to submit their own identity proof. The accused were nabbed in this process. The police said that one more person involved in the crime is currently at large. All the accused have been charged with abduction and wrongful confinement. ]]>
