Mumbai: Powai police rescue kidnapped chartered accountant

The accused apprehended by the Powai Police

The Powai police nabbed four accused who allegedly kidnapped a 44-year-old chartered accountant from Powai. The kidnappers had invested in a company known as Divine Powers at which the victim worked. They had been planning his abduction for over a month.

The matter came to light on January 18, when the victim's wife Megha Arora filed a police complaint that her husband Bhushan Arora was missing. As per the police report, Megha mentioned that Bhushan left home on January 17 for work in Sakinaka but didn't return. Subsequently, the Powai police initiated a missing person investigation. On January 19, Megha got a call from Bhushan's phone, with the caller demanding R5 crore. Following this, the police recorded her statement and filed a kidnapping case on January 19.

Car recovered at the farmhouse in Panvel

"Looking at the seriousness of the case, we registered a case of kidnapping and got 12 teams to investigate the matter," said DCP Zone 10 Datta Nalawade. "Bhushan Arora was taken by a car to an unknown location, three calls were then made to his wife from Rasayani, Govandi, and Airoli and the caller had used Bhushan's SIM card. The accused used public transport to come to the location and make the call," the DCP added.

Following intelligence inputs and further investigation, the authorities located Bhushan at a farmhouse in Panvel. Subsequently, the police reached Kamothe, apprehended the two suspects, and successfully rescued Bhushan from the farmhouse on January 21. "Bhushan was beaten by the accused. No weapons were recovered however, a car and laptop were seized from the farmhouse," said the DCP. The police arrested Amol Mhatre, 41, and Niranjan Singh, 32, at the Panvel farmhouse. Subsequently, based on their information, Vidhichandra Yadav, 31, and Mohammad Sulman alias Mohammad Monib Shaikh, 20, were apprehended.

"The group had invested around Rs 2 crore in Divine Powers. They were under the impression that Bhushan might have their invested money and hence they decided to abduct him. Having met Bhushan at an exhibition they had been tracking his movements closely. They had identified blind spots near his workplace so that they couldn't be tracked via CCTV footage."

"The group then used a duplicate car number plate to misguide the police. All efforts were made to hide the crime," said the DCP. A group of 65 police officers had been involved to track the case. The group had no previous criminal record they had been booked under sections 364 (kidnapping) and 34 (common intention).

How Divine Power got people to invest

Divine Power is a stock market company that lured customers to invest in their stock market scheme by ensuring that they would get double returns. AN FIR had been registered against the company in Panvel and Thane respectively. The company had conducted online workshops and had organised workshops in hotels to lure customers. However, the investors never got their money back.