Garage operator kidnapped, paraded naked

Pune: Five men were arrested and three others were booked on Wednesday evening for kidnapping a 31-year-old garage operator in a high-end SUV and parading him naked in the Kharadi area for half-an-hour on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.

The suspects shot a video on their cellphone while parading the garage operator, Raj Bhogappa Shinge (31), naked from 2.30am to 3am. The video went viral on Wednesday afternoon. They also beat him up and robbed him of his gold chain and Rs17,000.

Shinge, a resident of Yevalewadi near Kondhwa, approached the police on Wednesday. A team headed by deputy commissioner of police (Zone V) Suhas Bawache, assistant commissioner of police Sunil Kalgutkar and inspectors Murlidhar Karpe and Mahadev Kumbhar went to different places in the city in the afternoon to zero in on the culprits.

Five suspects — Saher Gulam Gaus Shaikh (36), Matin alias Naushad Khan (24), Rahil Israr Shaikh (25) and Siddhique Idris Shaikh (28) of Bhavani Peth, and Umed Ali Shaikh (24) of Parvati Payatha — were arrested by evening on charges of kidnapping, extortion, physical abuse and robbery. A search is on for the remaining three suspects.

According to the police, Shinge’s garage deals with high-end luxury cars and SUVs. The bills of servicing and repairing such vehicles in showrooms range between Rs3 lakh and Rs5 lakh. Shinge would do the same job at a lower rate.

The police said Shinge, Saher Shaikh and Matin Khan were friends. Shaikh and Khan used to urge owners of luxury cars and SUVs to get their vehicles serviced at Shinge’s garage. They would get a commission from Shinge in lieu of bringing customers.

On Thursday, the duo took a high-end luxury car for servicing and some minor repairs to Shinge’s garage. They had struck a deal of over Rs6 lakh with the car owner.

A senior officer said, “On Saturday, the car owner went to the garage to pick up his vehicle. When he asked for the bill, Shinge sought a little over Rs2 lakh forgetting that Shaikh and Khan had brought the car to his garage. The car owner made the payment and drove away.”

Shaikh and Khan visited Shinge’s garage after some time demanding their commission of Rs4.5 lakh. “Shinge told them that he had unknowingly handed over the car to its owner charging a little over Rs2 lakh,” the officer said.

The duo visited Shinge’s garage again late on Saturday evening in an SUV with their six accomplices. They abused him and forced him inside the SUV, the police said.

“The duo kept on demanding their commission of Rs4.5 lakh from Shinge. When the latter told them that he did not have the money, they kicked and punched him at an isolated spot in Kondhwa. They then took him to Kharadi, stripped him and paraded him naked. They later left him unattended,” the officer said.