Another businessman feared kidnapped

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sanjay Varma and Assistant Commissioner Mohammed Mulani told newspersons that Niranjan had not been seen after he left home in Nigdi Pradhikaran for his factory at Talawade village around 9.30 am on Friday. The abduction came to light only when Deepak lodged the FIR on Saturday.

Varma and Mulani said Niranjan’s whereabouts were not known. His car has also not been traced.

Police said Niranjan and his brother Deepak own Deepak Industries at Talawade village, about eight km from Nigdi. They supply vehicle spare parts to the Bajaj Auto company. The annual turnover of their company is about Rs 7 to 8 crore.

This is the third incident of abduction-for-ransom in the last three months. Vikram Lodha, son of a prominent builder and financier Subhash Lodha, had gone missing under mysterious circumstances on August 18. On August 19, Subhash Lodha’s nephew Girish had lodged a FIR with Swargate police claiming that Vikram had been kidnapped by members of the Gawli gang. On his return on August 20, Vikram had claimed that he had not been kidnapped at all and that he went to Shirdi on his own after his car was stolen from a restaurant near Paud Phata.

City businessman Harish Garware was kidnapped along with his driver Unnikrishnan Pillai on December 4 after they set out from home off the Baner-Balewadi road. Garware’s wife Lekha told police she received telephone calls from the abductors, who claimed to be members of the Chhota Rajan gang and had demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore. Garware and Pillai returned home unharmed on December 8 night.