Less than five hours after a 60-year-old estate agent registered a complaint that he and his friend were kidnapped, assaulted and blackmailed by a gang, the Kashigaon police arrested five people including four women for their alleged involvement in the crime.
In his complaint to the police on Thursday, Himmatlal Pandav, 60, a resident of Mira Road, stated that he received a call from an unidentified woman on May 16. She identified herself as Pinky and sought help from Pandav in securing a job. A day later both met in the Shanti Garden area. On May 21, the woman called up the complainant and asked him to meet her at Hotel Hill Top – a lodging facility located on Ghodbunder Road. Accompanied by his friend Suresh Shah, the complainant went to the lodge where the woman had already booked a room. The trio entered the room, where the woman said that she was desperately in need of money, while reiterating her request to help her secure a job. The complainant got suspicious that the woman was filming a video, following which he and his friend decided to leave the room.
However, both were forcefully pushed into an auto rickshaw along with another girl who was waiting outside. The duo was taken to Gorai where three more people including two women were waiting for them. After snatching their mobile phones and cash amounting Rs5,000, the male accused pulled out his belt and mounted a violent assault on the duo.
Demanding more money with threats of showing the video clips to their families and registering a case of rape against them, the accused took them to an ATM in Borivali. However, when the complainant could not fetch money from the ATM, the accused dropped them near their homes in the Poonam Complex at around 3am and asked them to arrange Rs1 lakh.
The offence under sections 364 (a) (kidnapping for ransom), 389 (putting a person in fear or accusation of offence, to commit extortion), 384 (extortion), 347 (wrongful confinement to extort property), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against them.
With the help of CCTV footage, accused Sonali Mahale, 28, Nisha Gaikwad, 45, Deepa Prajapati, 38, Mallik Ahmed Fakki, 24, and Darshana Gaikwad, 22 within five hours. All the accused are residents of Mira Road, Bhayandar and Nallasopara.
Meanwhile, the accused were remanded to custody after they were produced before the district sessions court, Thane on Friday.
