Borivali, May 21: A political party worker is among the two accused held for kidnapping, assaulting and demanding extortion from a hotelier. The victim was allegedly assaulted and abducted by the duo who demanded him to repay a partner's share or face dire consequences. Borivali Police have arrested and booked the accused and investigation is underway.
According to the statement given by the complainant, his business partner had quit the company in 2019, but earlier had agreed to operate a hotel in Goa with his cousin and the complainant.
However, when the lockdown was announced, they decided to sell the hotel and the cousin had brought a customer who was offering ₹2.40 crore for the hotel and had paid a token amount of ₹1 lakh.
The deal, however, never materialised and the complainant got a better deal at ₹2.50 crore, after which he decided to cancel the earlier deed and return the token, which did not go well with the former partner's cousin.
After much discussion, the hotelier and the ex-partner's cousin made a deal of ₹2.40 crore with the earlier customer and promised the cousin to give him the share after he received the money. On May 19, the complainant received a call from a man who claimed to discuss the money he owes to the cousin and was allegedly abducted to meet the ex-partner's cousin.
The men who kidnapped the hotelier slapped and assaulted him, threatened him of dire consequences if he fails to return the money he owes to the cousin. Moreover, they visited his house in Borivali and took a signed cheque of ₹31 lakh to give to the cousin, extorting the money. The hotelier then approached police and lodged a complainant, following which two arrests were made, including that of a political party worker.
Police said that both accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for assault, extortion and kidnapping charges. While the political party is not involved, the accused did so on a personal level, said police. Both accused were produced before a local magistrate court and remanded in custody.
