A newborn “helped” the Mumbai Police unravel the mystery behind a kidnapping case which kept them on their toes for over a month.
Outsmarted by the suspects who changed locations and phone SIM cards, the police found a crucial lead from the records of a maternity home where one of the kidnappers visited his wife post-childbirth.
The kidnapping episode, where a whopping Rs. 2 crore had to be paid to secure the safe release of a young man, finally concluded with the police arresting eight accused on Monday.
The victim, a 21-year-old from a builder family in Ghatkopar, was kidnapped on March 12 and released earlier this month. That the accused worked in a coordinated network was clear from the fact that the ransom amount was paid at Aarey Colony in Goregaon here while the man was released near Panvel in Nashik.
“Post release, the victim was not in a cogent state of mind for a long period and was not able to recall much. A few days ago, he told us that Manish, the man who delivered freshly prepared food everyday while he was in captivity in Nashik, did turn up once. The boy overheard Manish’s associates talking about his visit to Mumbai where his wife had delivered a child,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) K.M.M. Prasanna.
The investigators then unsuccessfully scanned the online records of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). What began next was a mammoth search exercise at all major hospitals in Mumbai to check the records for all children whose father’s name was Manish and zeroed in on one hospital in Parksite Vikroli in eastern suburbs where the records matched.
A police team posing as BMC officials visited Manish’s in-laws house in Mumbai next and gathered his details, including his Nashik address. A raid followed leading to Manish’s arrest and that of others at his instance.
The police also seized Rs. 90 lakh, a part of the ransom amount while another Rs. 50 lakh was allegedly deposited in the locker of the wife of the main accused in the case, Ajit Aparajit.
Ajit is a mechanical engineer by training and a car dealer by profession.
“During interrogation, the accused disclosed that at one point of time, they ran out of mobile SIM cards and one of the accused had to travel to Uttar Pradesh to get a next batch as connections were available there without much verification,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Atul Kulkarni.
Two accused were involved in kidnapping cases earlier, police added.