Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested five people, including a notorious criminal and a sand mafia from Shirdi, for allegedly kidnapping a city-based businessman over a monetary dispute. On Sunday, the businessman was abducted from Dindoshi. He was later found at Igatpuri in Nashik.
According to the police, the investigation revealed that the victim had allegedly taken Rs 1 crore from the father of the main accused. However, he had not returned the money for a long time. As a reason, the sand mafia named Pradeep Sarode kidnapped him. The victim, a resident of Marve Road, has a business of luxury automobile dealership. He was also allegedly involved in a couple of white collar crimes, said the police.
During the investigation, the police identified Sarode to be behind the kidnapping. Along with four others, he was arrested on Wednesday from Palghar. The other accused are identified as Arif Shaikh (30), Suryakant Jadhav (30) Suraj Suryawanshi (29) and Mahesh Kamble (26)
According to the police, the incident took place on Sunday evening outside Dindoshi bus depot, when the victim was about to get into his Mercedes car. Another car approached him from behind and a few masked people forced him into their car. The onlookers who witnessed the incident then alerted the police. The police then broke the car windshield and found his mobile phone and other documents. His family was informed; however, they denied receiving any extortion calls.
According to the police, Sarode is a notorious criminal from Shirdi. He has cases of murder, attempt to murder and other serious offences, including that of illegal sand dredging, registered against him. He also contested the Lok Sabha election in 2019 from Shirdi and secured 15,000 votes, said the police.