Abducted real estate broker rescued,three held

Ashish had a tiff with Naresh’s uncle Harshad Panchal — a real-estate broker — over the payment of Rs 50,000,which Harshad had reportedly borrowed from Ashish to invest in the stock market.

Investigating Officer Inspector D D Damor said: “Ashish and Harshad had a long standing dispute over the payment issue. Harshad was delaying the payment and on May 20,both had a heated argument over it. A day later,to get his money back,Ashish abducted Naresh,who worked with Harshad.”

The abductors had kept the youth first at Vijapur in Mehsana and later in Anand. They had demanded Rs 50 lakh as ransom.

“Naresh’s abductors took him to Vijapur and then to Anand. He was kept in dingy warehouses and beaten up. As Harshad knew the accused,he tried to sort out the matter. When nothing worked,we laid a trap. We asked Harshad to call Ashish and assure him that he would pay them the ransom. The accused were called near the Gujarat University premises,” Damor said.

The plan worked and the accused brought Naresh to the spot. After Naresh was handed over to Harshad,the police sprung into action and arrested Ashish,Haresh and Rakesh. But three others fled from the spot.

Those at large have been identified as Pinakin Patel,Nikunj Patel and Ankit Patel — all relatives of Ashish. All the accused are from Ladol village in Mehsana District.

The police have booked the accused on charges of abduction to get ransom under Section 364 A of the Indian Penal Code.

The police have begun further probe and search is on for the fugitives.