17 August,2016 08:33 AM IST | | Faisal Tandel and Santosh Wagh
In two different kidnapping cases across the city, the police responded to distress calls from a woman and a man at the Thane and Dombivli control room and saved them both from their abductors
A distress call in time can save your life. Two different instances of kidnapping - one of a 21-year-old woman in Thane and the other a 30-year-old man in Dombivli - had one thread in common, they managed to call the police about their assaulters and get rescued.
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Illustration/Uday Mohite
Woman in trouble
According to the police, in the first case, the victim is a 21-year-old woman, who worked as a waitress at the Red View Bar near Upvan Lake. The accused, identified as Ajay Chaurasiya (35), a school bus driver, was infatuated with the woman after meeting her and started stalking her. "A few days ago, he was following her on his Scooty when she confronted him. He claimed that he was attracted to her and managed to convince her to go out with him. On August 14, the duo met each other and decided to head to a lodge. After being denied a room near Upvan, they came to Dwarka Hotel," said Sitaram Wagh, police inspector, Wagle Estate police station.
Ajay Chaurasiya was arrested for kidnapping and raping
However, things soon went south and at 3.17 am, the Thane control room received a call that was answered by constable Shubhangi Togane. "The victim said that she was in the Dwarka Hotel bathroom and asked for help. Togane then immediately informed the Wagle Estate police station and police Sub-Inspector Vikas Babar reached the spot to rescue the woman," said Rashmi Karandikar, deputy commissioner of police, Thane.
What went wrong?
"When our officials reached the hotel, we found the woman locked in the bathroom. We interrogated her and discovered that after having dinner with Chaurasiya, she went to the hotel with him. Later, after having sex with her, he started assaulting her with a belt. When she tried to use the hotel landline, he disconnected the wire. So she locked herself in the bathroom and called the control centre," added Wagh.
Read Story: Mumbai: Man stages own kidnapping after family pressurize him to find job
The accused managed to flee the spot though. "According to the girl's statement, we have registered a case of rape under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 354 (D) [follows a woman and contacts, or attempts to contact such woman], 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) and 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code and arrested the accused from his residence. He was produced in court on Monday and was sent to police custody till Tuesday. On Tuesday, he was again produced in court and is in police custody till August 18," added Wagh.
Borrowing turns harrowing
In the second incident, Praveen Bhaulal (30), a resident of Ganesh Prasad Chawl in Dombivli claimed that during his year-long stint with Lotus Multi-Specialty Hospital in Nahur, he worked with a certain Chitra Gawde.
Around six months ago, Bhaulal needed help with funds for a new business and asked Chitra for help. "I told Chitra that I need some money and will return it soon. She helped me with Rs 30,000, which I assured her I would return soon. After a few months, she started demanding her money back, insisting that she had pawned her jewellery to get me the cash. I assured her that it would be returned in a little time, but she kept insisting," said Bhaulal.
On Sunday at around 4 pm, Bhaulal received a call from Chitra, asking him to come to Kopar railway station. "When he reached there, he found that Chitra was not alone and had brought along her brother Amol Gawde with three to four other people. They threatened him to return the cash, but he repeated his usual excuse," said a police officer.
The group then kidnapped Bhaulal and brought him from Kopar to Vikhroli via a local train. Bhaulal was kept in a local political party's office at Kannamwar Nagar and assaulted. "Between 5.30 pm to 9.30 pm, he was assaulted by the accused. At around 3 am on August 15, when he was in the bathroom, he found Amol's cell phone that had been left for charging. He immediately contacted the control room on 100," said Shridhar Hanchate, senior police inspector, Vikhroli police station.
Hanchate added, "When we got inside, we rescued Bhaulal and also found Amol there, who was arrested on the spot. We are searching for the other accused," added Hanchate.
A case was initially registered at Vikhroli police station under section 364 (a) of the Indian penal code and was later transferred to the Dombivli police station.
