Assuming all Bandraites are rich, kidnappers targeted boy: Police

MUMBAI: The four men who were arrested for kidnapping a 12-year-old boy early this week chose their victim simply because he lived in Bandra, and assumed that anyone who could afford to live in the posh suburb would be able to cough up huge amounts of money, said investigators on Friday. The police on January 25 had arrested four men, who allegedly kidnapped the boy on Monday while on his way to school.They released him once the parents paid up the ransom amount of Rs 5 lakh, though they had initially demanded Rs 5 crore from the parents.
The main accused Nirmal Mishra, who runs a garment business, hatched the plan with his employees, Vedprakash Yadav and Abdul Sattar, after he suffered a huge financial loss. Yadav and Sattar are Mishra’s tenants: all three lived in a room at a Bhandup chawl, the same place where they had held the boy. They were joined by a local, Vinod Pande.
Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Nisar Tamboli said: “They selected the target randomly.” A police officer added: “They assumed that all Bandra residents are wealthy, and that kidnapping a child from the area would be an easy way to get rich.” At 7am on January 23, two of the accused accosted the boy while he was walking to school, and convinced him to accompany them in their car (see timeline). The worried parents alerted the police the moment the kidnappers made contact with them that very day. Between Monday and Tuesday, they received more than five calls from the kidnappers. The special squad of the west region, Bandra police , along with crime branch officials tracked the movement of the caller (Mishra) by monitoring his cellphone usage. On January 24 evening, Mishra called the family and instructed the father to board the Sahyadri Express with the Rs 5 lakh in a bag. The kidnappers asked him to get down at Karjat and board a local to Badlapur . They instructed him to throw the money from the moving train the moment he saw a torchlight flashing along the tracks. The father, who was accompanied by the police, did not see the torchlight, and kept the money with him. The kidnappers then instructed him to board a train back to Karjat, and keep an eye out for the signal . They warned him that if he didn’t throw the bag, he would not see his son. This time, the money was thrown onto the tracks.
Deputy commissioner of police (zone-9 ) Pratap Dighavkar, said: “The accused were inspired by old film (Inkaar) when they asked the father to throw the ransom from a moving train.”
The kidnappers released the boy on January 25 at BKC, from where he took an auto home. The father said, “My son was in shock, but recovered quickly. He is a brave boy.”
The cops arrested the accused on January 25 evening itself. They were tracking Mishra’s movements through the calls he made on his cellphone , but decided to act once they were assured of boy’s safety. They are yet to recover the Rs 5 lakh from the accused.
Around 7am on January 23, a 12-year-old boy who lives in Bandra (W) is on his way to school when two men in an Indica approach him. They convince him that they are known to his father, and ask him to accompany them. They take the boy to a Bhandup chawl An hour later, one of the accused drives to Ghatkopar and contacts the boy’s father from his cellphone, but does not ask for a ransom. The kidnapper makes a second call and demands a Rs 5 crore ransom from the parents. They later reduce the amount to Rs 5 lakh On January 24 evening, the caller instructs the father to board an outstation train and get down at Karjat. From Karjat, he gets a call asking him to board a local train to Badlapur and drop the money from the moving train when he sees a torchlight on the tracks. The father does not see the signal and fails to throw the bag. The kidnapper instructs him to board a train back to Karjat, and once again keep an eye out for the signal. This time the father throws the bag onto the tracks.
On January 25 around 5am, the accused free the boy near BKC from where he hires an auto back home. The police trace the accused the same night. All four are arrested from the chawl in Bhandup. The boy even identifies his kidnappers