Mumbai: The Malad Police have rescued a 13-year-old boy who was kidnapped by two men, who had demanded a ransom of Rs 10 lakh. The accused duo was arrested and booked under relevant sections of the IPC.
According to police, the teenager, a resident of Adarsh Nagar in Malad (W) who is engaged in lots of sports activities and owned a mobile phone, belongs to a wealthy family. On Sunday evening, when the teen had gone to play at a sports ground, he was intercepted by two men, who introduced themselves as BMC employees, reprimanding him for not wearing a mask. Following these claims, the duo took the boy in an autorickshaw on the pretext of going to the office.
Police said, the duo took the teenager's phone and contacted the father, informing him that his son was found without a mask and he is being taken to the office for imposing a fine. While the father tried to reason that his son is a minor and cannot be taken alone, the men refused to budge and hung up the call.
A few minutes later, one of the men got off the auto with the teen's phone while the other accompanied the boy. The first man, identified as Shekhar Vishwakarma, 35, called up the teen's father and said that his son has been kidnapped and if he wants to see his kid alive, he will have to shell out Rs 10 lakh. The panicked father approached Malad Police, who immediately began the combing operations and sent out teams in parks and gardens. Meanwhile, the other, an identified as Divyanshu Vishwakarma, 21, had taken the boy to a park in Valais Colony.
The police rescued the teen roaming with Divyanshu in a garden, following which the latter was arrested.
Meanwhile, Shekhar had no clue and was corresponding with the father to drop off the money. Police then laid a trap and arrested Shekhar, who was lured to the spot to collect the ransom. The duo confessed during interrogation that they were debt ridden and had drawn inspiration from a crime series to do recce and then kidnap the teen. Both accused were arrested on Sunday and booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for kidnapping.
