‘Kidnapping of 13-year-old was well planned’

Mumbai: The gang of five kidnappers who abducted a 13-year-old Kurla resident planned a fortnight before they carried out the crime impeccably. The accused wanted to kidnap the businessman’s younger son however, the elder boy came down to meet his aunt, and one of the arrested accused, and was picked up soon after.

The rickshaw that was used in the crime belonged to another person, who had hired one of the accused as a driver. The driver was working on night shift, on the day when they had decided to execute the plan. The investigators said that one more person is suspected to have assisted the accused, however, they are yet to verify his role.

“We are questioning the accused further to find if they attempted this earlier or if the boy’s aunt had sought any help, monetary or otherwise, from the victim’s father,” said a crime branch officer. All the accused were produced before the Esplanade Court and they have been remanded to police custody till August 16 for further investigation.

While the kidnapping case was registered with the VB Nagar police station, the investigation has now been taken over by the unit IV of Mumbai crime branch.

The arrested accused include Sultan Khan, 26, Jehangir Shaikh, 28, Sohail Siddique alias William, 33, Gufran Aarif Shaikh, 26 and Shabina Khan, 27, who is the victim’s distant aunt.