Mumbai: 6-yr-old's uncle kidnapped boy for Rs 3 lakh ransom

The Nagpada police have arrested four men for allegedly kidnapping a six-year-old boy, Amaan Jamadar, and demanding Rs 3 lakh as ransom from his father. The four accused have been identified as Shanavaz Khan (31), the child's uncle who works as a driver, Samir Khan (42) and Adnan Naik alias Raju (33), both taxi drivers, and Mohammad Akram Siddiqui (25).

On Saturday at 1.30 pm, Amaan's father, Rehmat Jamadar, a resident of Dhancastle building in Nagpada, got a call from an unknown person. The caller started abusing Jamadar, and he disconnected the call. But Jamadar soon got another call from the same number and he was told, "Teen peti tayyar rakhna, tera beta mere pass hai." (‘Keep Rs 3 lakh ready, I have your son').

Jamadar also heard the cries of his boy in the background and the call was disconnected. Jamadar then called his wife and their son was nowhere to be found. After telling his wife about the call, Jamadar filed a complaint at Nagpada police station.

During subsequent investigations, the police retrieved CCTV footage from a shop and saw Amaan with an unidentified man walking towards Bata junction. The child's uncle Shanavaz Khan, was also spotted at the same spot, heading in the same direction that Amaan was going.

Khan was then taken in for interrogation. Police traced the number from where Jamadar had received the threat call. The call was traced to a PCO at Hans Road, Byculla. The PCO owner confirmed that the person who had made the call had been trying his best to ensure that the conversation was not overheard. Meanwhile, at 4.35 pm, Jamadar received another call, asking if he was

ready with the ransom money. He replied in the affirmative. However, at 6 pm, Amaan returned home. When he was later shown the CCTV footage, the boy said that the man captured by the camera had told him that his uncle wanted to meet him.

Amaan was then abandoned at Bata junction. A senior police official said, "We investigated Shanavaz Khan and he said that he wanted R1 lakh, and so he, along with other three other persons, had planned the kidnapping two days back, at Worli. They subsequently decided to increase the ransom money to Rs 3 lakh.

After kidnapping Amaan they went to Hans road and Naik along with Samir made two calls to his father. Then later the third call was made from Chembur, enquiring about the status of the ransom money. After that they called Shanavaz Khan, but his phone was not reachable.

The accused panicked, left the boy at Bata junction and ran away." A case has been registered against the accused under Sections 363, 364 (a), 387 and 34 of the IPC, at Nagpada police station.