Doon businessman alleges kidnapping, extortion bid by fake Mumbai crime branch team 

PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE / Dehradun

A local businessman has alleged that he was abducted, threatened and asked to pay Rs 25 lakh by a group of people who claimed to be officers of the Mumbai crime branch. The complaint was filed at Patelnagar police station on June 27.

According to the complaint, Siddharth Agarwal was at his factory in the industrial area of Patelnagar on June 25 when a car arrived. Three men and a woman got out of the vehicle. One of the men introduced himself as inspector Ranjit Kansale of the Mumbai crime branch. The group told Agarwal that a complaint had been filed against him and forcibly took him inside their vehicle after taking away his mobile phone. The complainant alleged that the group threatened him with arrest under serious laws including MCOCA and the NDPS Act. They also allegedly pointed a pistol at him and warned that he could be sent to jail for many years. The group then took him near a hotel at Saharanpur Chowk, where they allegedly demanded Rs 25 lakh to settle the matter.

Agarwal said he repeatedly requested the group to take him back to his factory so that his family could speak with them. Later, the accused returned him to the factory. His father and nearby business owners questioned the team and asked them to show their identity cards and call the local police. The group reportedly became nervous and left the spot without taking any further action.

The complainant further claimed that he later found the man identifying himself as inspector Ranjit Kansale was a dismissed Maharashtra police constable with criminal cases against him. He alleged that the group had planned the incident to extort money from him. The police have received the complaint and started investigation in the case.