Nagpur: The Ajay Raut kidnapping case which was committed on December 11, 2015 was being investigated by the Crime branch on war footing. While addressing a press meet, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ranjan Sharma said that they have succeeded in arresting four of the accused who after questioning have been remanded to Police Custodial Remand till January 27, 2016.
The four accused arrested are identified as:
- Nitin Sunil Waghmare aged 27 years and a resident of Bhilgaon Kamptee Road,
- Ashish Virendra Naidu aged 28 years and a resident of Belli Shop, Panchpaoli,
- Kartik Shivramakrishnan Thewar aged 27 years and a resident of Christian Colony Jaripatka,
- Bharat alias Rahul Sushil Dubey aged 23 years and a resident of Bhonsle Wadi Motibagh.
These accused are said to only pawns in the game. These accused are alleged to have received only as much as Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000/- for committing the crime.
Almost all the accused who are arrested, have previous criminal record especially in the Monty Bullar murder case. MCOCA has been slapped against all the above accused too.
However three more accused who are alleged to have played a major role in the kidnapping case are said to be absconding. These absconding accused include:
- Diwakar Baban Kotulwar aged 31 years and a resident of Manish Nagar, Sonegaon
- Ashish Baban Kotulwar aged 28 years a resident of Manish Nagar, Sonegaon
- Kushal alias Jallad alias Pahelwan Thool aged 25 years and a resident of Gaddigodam and other unidentified accused.
According to Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ranjan Sharma, the Crime Branch personnel had nabbed Diwakar Baban Kotulwar who was also an accused in the Monty Bullar murder case and questioned. However, he was continuously misleading the cops. When the arrested accused were nabbed by the cops, both Diwakar Baban Kotulwar and his brother Ashish Baban Kotulwar sensing trouble had absconded.
Unknown to the Crime Branch then that Diwakar Baban Kotulwar too had a hand in the Ajay Raut kidnapping case, since they failed to be present in the court for the hearing, the cops of crime branch had gone to their house to slap a warrant on them. However, he was said to be missing from the house. While questioning the arrested accused it came to fore that Diwakar Baban Kotulwar was one of the main accused.
There are two cars which were used in the kidnapping case. However, while the cops of the crime branch could not sieze the Scorpio car which was used in the kidnapping case, the Adventure SUV was seized.
It could be mentioned here that a brazen incident, a gang of 10 car-borne accused kidnapped a 45-year old man in filmy style and demanded a staggering ransom of Rs 5 crore or else threatened to kill his wife and son. The abducted man was forced to contact his friends on mobile phone for ransom money and ultimately extracted Rs 1.75 crore for his release. It is allegedly reported that the ransom sum of Rs 1.75 crore was arranged by a jeweller (Rs 75 lakh) and most surprisingly by gangster Raju Bhadre. (Raju Bhadre at present is in jail in connection with a murder case). However, the facts could not be confirmed.
According to sources and reports, the victim Ajay Shyamrao Raut (45), resident of Suraj Gopi Apartment, was returning home around 12 noon on December 13. When Ajay Raut neared his house, a gang of 10 goons travelling in a car like Innova or Tavera and a motorcycle accosted Ajay Raut and forcibly pushed him into the car. After kidnapping Ajay, the gang of abductors blind-folded Ajay in order to keep him in the dark about identity of the offenders and rode him for 2-3 hours within the city roads. The accused abductors repeatedly abused and bashed Ajay in the car and demanded a ransom sum of Rs 5 crore for his release. The gang threatened to kill Ajay’s wife, son and other family members if their ransom demand was not met. When Ajay expressed his helplessness in meeting the demand, the kidnappers forced him to contact his friends on mobile phone and ask them to arrange the ransom sum. Scared to the core, Ajay phoned his friends and requested them to arrange the money. It is learnt that the friends brought Rs 1.75 crore out of Rs 5 crore ransom demand and handed over to the gang of ruffians. As soon as they received the amount, the gang dropped Ajay at a secluded place and fled away.
