14-year-old boy kidnapped for Rs 30 lakh ransom, rescued; 3 persons arrested

Police have arrested three persons for allegedly kidnapping a 14-year-old boy and demanding a ransom of Rs 30 lakh from his family in Maharashtra’s Pune district, officials said.

The boy has been rescued by the police, they said.

According to the police, the boy, who is the son of a scrap dealer, was kidnapped by three persons on Tuesday morning from Tathawade area of the adjoining Pimpri-Chinchwad township.

”On receiving a complaint from the family, a team was formed and during investigation, it was revealed the kidnappers had taken the boy to Saswad. The kidnappers earlier called a relative of the boy and demanded Rs 30 lakh and threatened to kill him if the ransom money was not paid,” an official from the Pimpri-Chinchwad crime branch said.

After tracing the location of the kidnappers, a police team was dispatched. The kidnappers were arrested from Saswad and the boy was rescued from their clutches, he said.

The accused were identified by the police as Tejan Lokhande, Arjun Rathod, and Vikas Mhaske.

The trio knew that the boy’s father was financially well-off and targeted him for quick money, the police said.

”The accused wanted to open a hotel and for that they needed money. This led them to plan the kidnapping,” another police official said.