3 calls from kidnappers in 3 days led cops to Karnit

Bhind’s cousin had also asked him about the boy,inspector S Shinde from the Kandivali police said. Bhind told the villagers that Karnit was his friend’s son who had died recently and there was nobody to take care of him.

Bhind’s cousin gave him a hut to keep Karnit. “The boy was comfortable in the village and made friends with the villagers. When we asked the villagers,they said Bhind had lied to them and if they knew that Karnit was kidnapped they would have informed the police,” said an officer on condition of anonymity.

Handiya is a small village where people know each other well. The villagers suspected Bhind’s claims. He feared that Karnit would inform everyone of the kidnap and made frequent calls to Sohan Gupta,the cake shop owner,to make the ransom calls.

“Gupta and the rest of the kidnappers wanted to wait for a few days before making the call as they knew that the police were on their trail,” said Shinde. “Seeing the posters that announced Rs 2 lakh for the person who found Karnit,the kidnappers thought of waiting longer to coax the parents to shell out Rs 10 lakh for their son,” added Shinde.

“The four have been remanded in police custody till May 3. We would be able to get many details from them as they are co-operating in the investigation,” said Shinde.