MUMBAI: DN Nagar police arrested a 42-year-old driver for allegedly kidnapping 10-year-old twin sons of his employer, a real estate developer from Juhu, and making a Rs 1 crore ransom demand for their release. They also nabbed the 24-year-old brother-in-law of the accused who had helped him execute the crime. The driver reportedly planned the crime to arrange money for his daughter’s wedding.
It was the driver himself who had initially rushed to the police station after pretending to have escaped from the kidnapper’s clutches around 9.10pm on January 25. His luck ran out when police smelled a rat and questioned him for 18 hours before he confessed to staging the kidnapping.
His brother-in-law had made at least four ransom calls using an internet calling app that displayed a France number to the developer’s mobile.
The accused had worked with the developer 10 years ago before accepting a driver’s post in Oman. He rejoined the developer in October 2020 after returning to India upon losing his Oman job due to the pandemic.
“We managed to save the twin brothers (both Class V students of an English medium school). One of the children was found lying in his father’s SUV near Juhu PVR while the other was found in the safe custody of Croma showroom staff in Andheri West after he managed to free himself and sought help from them. The accused had made the two children take sleeping pills. The duo used an internet calling app that showed the calls to the children’s father were made from France,” said DN Nagar police senior inspector Bharat Gaikwad.
Police were certain of the accused’s role in the crime 20 minutes into his questioning. DCP (Zone IX) Abhishek Trimukhe supervised a team led by ACP Jyotsana Rasam, senior inspector Gaikwad and assistant inspector Vikas Patil that located one of the children in a semi-conscious state in the SUV. “The second child was tracked after we nabbed the driver’s brother-in-law who took us to a parked bus outside a Croma showroom. The child was not inside though. Later, we found him with the showroom staff whom he had approached for help after he freed himself,” said the police.
The driver had planned the offence and called his Delhi-based brother-in-law, who was employed in a mobile showroom, eight days ago and told him the children attended a tennis training class at Manish Nagar in Andheri (West) from 6.30pm to 7.30pm three days a week.
“The rescued kids told us at around 7.40pm they left the tennis class and were driving back home when a man stopped the SUV and barged inside and told them to take the pills. Even the driver stuffed pills in their mouths, they said. On reaching Croma showroom, they tied one of the children’s hands and taped his mouth before dumping him inside the school bus while the second was taken near Juhu PVR. The driver confessed to committing the offence and staging the kidnap,” said the police.
The duo have been booked for Indian Penal Code sections for kidnapping and causing grievous hurt. The duo has been sent to police custody till February 1.