Auto-rickshaw driver held for kidnapping housewife

MUMBAI: The Amboli police arrested three persons on Monday, including an auto-driver, who kidnapped a housewife and robbed her of valuables worth Rs 7,000 last month. The accused were produced before court and remanded in police custody till November 25.
On August 28, Pushpa Moolya was on her way to Andheri railway station, when the driver, Khalid Shaikh (27), called up his accomplice Asif Shaikh from his mobile and told him to come to Amboli, along with Rizwan Qureshi.
Khalid had hidden a knife behind the auto rickshaw's backseat and the other two accused were aware of it.
Moolya noticed that Khaild was instructing someone to come to Amboli, but was unaware about his intentions.
When the auto reached the spot, Asif and Rizwan jumped in, gagged Moolya and threatened her with the knife. The accused snatched her ornaments and confined her in the auto for two hours. They then left left her off at Chembur, after which she approached the nearest police station, where officials told her to approach the Amboli police station.
The officials said Moolya, who lives in Navi Mumbai, had come to meet her relatives at Seven Bungalows, and was returning when the incident took place.
Assistant inspector Rajendra Kane said the police were probing whether the accused had committed other offences in the suburbs using the same modus operandi.