Abduction of film actress, directors foiled

Acting on a tip off that six members of a gang were to assemble near Nandi Cinema, Bandra (W) to commit dacoity at a film director’s house living in the neighbourhood, the officers attached to unit-7 of the Crime Branch laid a trap.

According to Inspector Vilas Tupe, the trap paid off and at around 3 pm, six persons in a white fiat car (MH01 A 6613) were seen behaving in a suspicious manner. The officers scooped down on them and arrested four suspects. However, two of them managed toescape, Tupe added.

On searching the suspects, four revolvers and 22 live cartridges were recovered from them along with some pocket diaries with names and address of a few film personalities and rough sketches of their offices.

The four arrested men have been identified as Jaspalsingh alias Johny Tejasingh Chouhan, Mehboob Rukmeddin Sheikh, Mohammed Sadruddin Bhaidane and Bramahdutt Divanchand Raujia.

Investigations have revealed that the men had plan to abduct a noted actress from across the border and two director for ransom. A senior police officer said, “Disclosing their names might endanger their lives.”

Interestingly, Jaspalsingh who was fascinated by the film world had migrated from Ludhiana to Mumbai to become a film actor. However, failing to make any headway in Bollywood, he joined hands with Abu Salem.

Bhaidane, a resident of Vasai, also wanted to be an actor but instead was lured by the Dubai-based gangster Salem to join his cadre. Their proximity to Bollywood probably made it easyfor them to target film personalities, a police officer pointed out.

Meanwhile, the police have not ruled out the possibility that the gangsters may be acting at the behest of Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). The gangsters have been remanded to police custody till October 16, the police informed.