Man makes ransom calls to kin of missing person

Mumbai: The Thane (rural) police has arrested a man (25) who contacted the telephone numbers listed on a missing person poster to demand ransom money from the latter’s family in Bhayandar. A police team nabbed the accused, Hemant Sudhakar Ingle (25), from Bhusawal railway station in Jalgaon district on Thursday.

According to officials, the complainant, Anil Natwarlal Shah, had reported his mentally retarded elder brother, Chetan (48), as missing from his house in Bhayandar (west) on May 9, 2018. Posters were put up at public places, including bus depots and railway stations, bearing Chetan Shah’s photograph and his brother, Anil Shah’s phone number, proclaiming a cash reward of `3 lakh to anyone who provided information about Chetan’s whereabouts. However, a few weeks later, Anil Shah began getting ransom calls from an unidentified caller, who claimed to have kidnapped Chetan Shah and demanded `3 lakh for his safe return.

The caller wanted the money to be delivered at Bhusawal railway station, and even threatened to remove and sell Chetan Shah’s kidney if his demands were not met.  Anil Shah informed ASP Atul Kulkarni about the ransom calls, following which, a team led by PSI Sunil Baghal laid a trap and apprehended Ingle, with the help of Faizpur police and the Railway Police Force (Bhusawal).

A native of Bamnod village in the Yawal region of Jalgaon, the accused had hatched a plan to pose as a kidnapper and make ransom calls after spotting the poster of the missing man on a train.