Navi Mumbai crime branch officers arrested a 26-yr-old who was wanted in a kidnapping and extortion case for the last one year. Accused had allegedly abducted a jeweller and another jeweller’s son last year
Navi Mumbai crime branch officers get information about the accused being spotted in Indapur, Pune
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Navi Mumbai crime branch officers have arrested a 26-year-old who was wanted in a kidnapping and extortion case for the last one year. The accused, who had been booked under the MCOCA, had allegedly abducted a jeweller and another jeweller’s son from Kharghar for ransom in February 2016.
The case
The accused, identified as Santosh alias Aba Waghmare, hails from Solapur. He was booked by the Kharghar police under sections 364 (A) (kidnapping for ransom), 385 (putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document/record) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and MCOCA.
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As officers walk up to his car after he arrives at the spot, the accused tries to make his escape and rams into the policeman standing in front of his vehicle
Waghmare had allegedly kidnapped Bajranj Shinde (60), a jeweller from Ahmedabad, and Pravin Devkar (28), a jeweller from Kharghar. Pravin’s father Laxman (60) had filed the complaint.
"Waghmare along with nine others had planned to kidnap Shinde after finding out that he was closing his business in Ahmedabad and moving to Navi Mumbai. They targeted him when he met Pravin in Kharghar and picked up both of them. After demanding R10 crore as ransom, the amount was brought down to Rs 10 lakh, and later, they settled for Rs 2.5 lakh and released the two after taking the money," said an officer.
The accused had kept the victims first at the government rest house in Panvel and then the one in Indapur, Pune. "Eight were arrested earlier. Waghmare, the kingpin, and another were absconding. Now, we have got the main man," the officer added.
Another policeman from the team fires a round at his car tyre, bringing the vehicle to a halt
The chase
Assistant inspector Shrikant Shinde and his team reached Indapur after getting specific information that Waghmare had been seen there on several occasions.
"We had received information on him at least seven times earlier, but he always managed to give us the slip. Finally, this time, we got confirmed details about the spot he would be coming to on Monday," said an officer.
The policemen run up to the vehicle, break the windows and drag the accused out. Illustration/Ravi Jadhav
Shinde, sub-inspector Sunil Sawant and three constables waited at the spot, when they saw Waghmare coming in a car. "We too had a car; we realised that if we went ahead of him and stopped, he would run away. So we parked behind him and walked up," said Shinde.
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While Shinde stood on the right, Sawant went to the front of Waghmare’s car; the accused, however, started the car and rammed into Sawant, injuring him. "We fired a round on his right tyre, bringing him to a stop, and ran ahead and caught hold of him. The doors and windows were closed, so we had to break the glass and bring him out," added Shinde.
Senior inspector of Navi Mumbai crime branch Nandakumar P said, "The Indapur Pune Rural police have taken his custody. We will take his custody later for our investigation."
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