Mumbai: The Amboli cops have arrested six persons on charge of kidnapping a businessman for a ransom of Rs 82 lakh from Nallasopara in north Mumbai, police said today.

The kidnappers called up businessman Bhavin Shah's (39) wife by sending video clips of her frightened husband on social messaging application and demanded the ransom amount, an official said. Shah was kidnapped by unidentified persons from Andheri RTO on October 31, when he had gone there for tanker licence work, he said. Shah had told his wife that he will reach home before 3 pm after completing the work. But, he did not return home till late in the night and his cell phone too was switched off, an official said. His wife then went to police station and lodged a missing complaint, said the official.

While, Amboli police launched a search operation for Bhavin Shah, his wife got a call from his cell phone, in which the caller demanded a ransom of Rs 82 lakh and also told her to see the video clip on messaging application, he said. In the clip Shah was seen requesting his parents and wife to give money to the kidnappers and saying that these people are dangerous and they will kill him if the amount is not paid.

A special team led by senior police inspector Bharat Gaikwad and encounter specialist police sub-inspector Daya Nayak was then formed to rescue the kidnapped businessman, said the official. The team searched for the accused persons in Sakinaka, Andheri, Vasai, Virar and Nallasopara area, he said. In the meantime the accused kept on sending video clips of Shah to his wife and also demanding ransom.

Police then decided to trap the accused and told Shah's wife to make payment to the kidnappers. They asked her to get their location, the official said. Kidnappers told her to come between Andheri to Nallasopara railway stations with money, he said. She went with the extortion amount to suburban railway station where kidnappers were constantly telling her to change the trains and platforms, he said.

The police who were following the woman arrested two persons while accepting the money, the official said. Based on information given by the duo, the police late in the night raided a flat in Nallasopara, from where they rescued Shah and arrested all the kidnappers, he said.

The accused have been identified as Mohammad Shanu Rafique Shaikh (36), Sandeep Sharma (38), Chandrabhan Singh alias Udham (32), Anil Pandey (33), Dhiraj Singh (25) and Mohammad Kabadi (32), said police. Shanu, was the mastermind of the kidnapping as he did business with victim's brother earlier and knew the financial status of the victim, he said.

A country made pistol, three live cartridges, three knives, six mobile phones, one car and Rs 22,000 which were withdrawn using the victim's debit card were recovered from the spot, he added.

PTI