The Mumbai police has rescued a four-year-old boy who was kidnapped using an off-duty Uber cab car by a six-member gang, three days after his abduction.
The Mumbai police has rescued a four-year-old boy who was kidnapped using an off-duty Uber cab car by a six-member gang, three days after his abduction. The police has arrested six persons in connection with the crime, including two who posed as journalists.
One more person who tipped off the kidnappers about the boy is absconding. The boy was rescued from a house in Virar that appeared to be the home of the girlfriend of one of the accused. The police said the gang of six wanted to celebrate Diwali with the ransom money of '5 lakh, which they demanded from the boy’s family.
Four-year old Mohammad Asif Shah, who is a student of nursery class, was kidnapped on October 27 from Marve Road at about 9 pm while he was returning home from tuition class with his seven-year old sister.
Asif was kidnapped in a white Tata Indica car, following which his father Mohammad Akhtar Shah (30) received a threat call in which he was told his child would be killed if he informed the police about the kidnapping, the police said. The kidnappers telephoned again on October 28 and demanded a ransom of Rs 5 lakh, after which the family got in touch with the police.
Crime branch officials started tracing the calls to Asif’s house and the car in which he was kidnapped. Investigations showed that the car in which Asif was kidnapped was a Uber cab company vehicle that was off duty that day. Following the investigation’s trail, the police gradually rounded up six members of the kidnapping gang.
The arrested persons are identified as Santosh Vishvakarma (27), Zahir Shaikh (30), Rajesh Chauhan (23), Sanjay Chauhan (22), Deepa Gupta (30), Abhishekh Jha (22).
Joint commissioner of Mumbai Police Atul Chandra Kulkarni, said, “We have arrested six accused in the matter and one of them is wanted. The car in which the child was kidnapped belongs to Uber cabs and it was found in the investigations that the driver of the cab was previously working for Ola cabs. While the kidnapping happened the cab was not actively working for the company.”
