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Three persons posing as policemen allegedly abducted a shopkeeper and his uncle earlier this month and demanded a ransom of Rs 5 crore. The abductors released the two after agreeing to accept Rs 1.5 lakh from their family, said the police. The 38-year-old complainant runs a shop in Nallasopara where he sells cooking utensils and gas stoves. On November 4, according to the police, he was taking lunch with his uncle when three men entered the shop and introduced themselves as policemen.
The men allegedly claimed to have received a complaint that the shop sold cooking gas cylinders too, which was illegal. The accused then told the shopkeeper that he needed to accompany them for investigation purposes, the police said.
The accused, however, took the shopkeeper and his uncle to an abandoned building on Achole Road in Nallasopara and held them captive there, said the police, adding the men then made a ransom call to their family and demanded Rs 5 crore to release them.
An officer at the Tulinj police station said the shopkeeper’s family members told the alleged abductors they did not have that much money and could only afford to pay Rs 1.5 lakh. “The accused agreed to accept Rs 90,000 the same day and Rs 60,000 the next day and released the men,” said the officer.
After the men returned home, they lodged a complaint with the police on Tuesday. “We are scanning CCTV footage from the area to identify the accused,” said Datta Totewad, Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Nallasoapra. The Tulinj police station has lodged a case of kidnapping and extortion against unidentified men.
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