On September 24, 2024, the Thane City Police successfully rescued a 20-year-old son of a prominent construction businessman, Sanjay Rambhaji Shelke, who had been kidnapped for ransom. The young man was abducted from his Swift car by four individuals in an Ertiga vehicle near Charms Global City, Ambernath East. The kidnappers initially demanded a staggering ransom of 40 crore rupees, threatening to kill the victim if the amount wasn't paid.
The incident occurred within the jurisdiction of Ambernath Police Station, prompting immediate action. A case was registered under Section 140, 3(5) of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita at Ambernath Police Station. Upon receiving the complaint, the Ambernath police immediately launched an investigation, forming 8 specialized teams consisting of 15 officers and 80 personnel. They reviewed CCTV footage from 45 cameras in the area and analyzed the mobile number used by the kidnappers, which led to a critical breakthrough.
DCP Sudhakar Pathare of Thane police zone 4 told, “The investigation revealed that the Ertiga car used in the kidnapping had fake number plates. The kidnappers repeatedly called the victim's father, initially demanding 40 crore rupees, then reducing it to 7 crore, and finally settling on 2 crore rupees. They instructed that the money be placed in an Ola cab and the car number be sent to them.”
To ensure the victim's safety, the police and the complainant agreed to prepare the ransom amount. Under the guidance of senior officials, police teams discreetly followed the Ola cab in private two-wheelers and four-wheelers around the MIDC and Badlapur Pipeline Road areas, maintaining a safe distance.
Despite challenges posed by heavy rain and the kidnappers frequently changing the drop-off location, the police persisted. Eventually, the kidnappers, suspecting police presence, abandoned their plan and informed the victim's father that his son would return home within 20-25 minutes.
Using technical surveillance of the kidnappers' mobile number, the police traced its location to Pise Dam, Vasheregaon, Padgha, Bhiwandi area. A team was dispatched, and they successfully located and safely rescued the kidnapped young man near the dam.
Further investigation led to the arrest of ten suspects, including Nikhil Rajusing Labana, a mobile SIM card seller, and Vinesh Raju Advani. The police recovered various items including a KIA CARENS car (MH02 FR 7047), a homemade steel pistol with three cartridges, an air pistol, a sharp iron knife, red nylon rope, black masks, and five mobile phones. The total value of the seized items is 12,62,350 rupees.
Sections 60, 49, 55 and 56 of the BNS along with sections 37(1), 135 of the Mumbai Police act and sections 3, 25, 4 and 25 of the Indian Arms Act were additionally levied during the ongoing investigation
The police discovered that two of the arrested suspects, Devidas Dattatray Waghmare and Dattatray Namdev Pawar, were already involved in a separate fraud case. They had allegedly scammed aspiring firefighters out of 2.75 crore rupees by promising jobs in the BMC. This earlier case (No. 381/2024) is registered at Agripada Police Station, Mumbai.
It appears that the kidnapping was planned to repay the money from the previous scam. Despite the initial lack of clues, the police meticulously examined CCTV footage and conducted a technical analysis of the mobile phone, identifying and arresting the suspects within 12 hours and rescuing the kidnapped victim safely.
This successful operation was led under the guidance of Sanjay Jadhav, Additional Commissioner of Police, Dr. Sudhakar Pathare, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 4, Senior PI Jagannath Kalaskar, Senior PI Ashok Bhagat and other 80 police personnel.