Archana Gautam was brave enough to try and catch the culprits, but despite her screams, bystanders stared and took photos and videos; a beggar sitting nearby noticed her struggle and came to her rescue



Archana Gautam figured out that the kidnappers were fake cops. Pic/Nimesh Dave

"I screamed myself hoarse, but people just stared and took photos and videos of my struggle," said small-time actor Archana Gautam, who was recently kidnapped by goons posing as CBI officers.

"In the end, a beggar helped me," the 22-year-old told mid-day, which had yesterday reported her ordeal. Archana fell into the trap after she received a call offering a job to model for a saree commercial, and agreed to meet the client at Novotel. But then she got a call from a woman, asking her to park her car and get into the client's car, in which two mean were seated.

They snatched her mobile phone and said that they were from the CBI. They threatened to detain her on prostitution charges unless she gave them money. "I began crying when I saw the fake ID card of the man who was driving," recalled Archana.



mid-day's report yesterday on the kidnapping

They made her call her mother first, to demand a ransom, but when she refused, they hung up. Then they made her call her father, and even demanded that he mortgage his house to raise the money quickly. "The accused called me and said we are CBI officers, we have caught your daughter for prostitution. If you don't pay R1 lakh, she will go to jail for three years. I told them that I didn't have any money and that my daughter is innocent," said Archana's mother, Sunita.

She smells a rat

Eventually, Archana asked the kidnappers to return her phone so she could ask her friends for help. She asked a friend to loan R50,000 to her brother. When the accused drove to the airport to collect the ransom, Archana got the first clue that they were impostors.

As they approached the international airport, they were stopped by the police. "I saw one of the accused get out and bribe the cops — that's when I knew they were fakes."

As soon as she saw her brother arrive with the money, she yelled at him to call the police. Realising that they had been busted, the fake cops then kicked her and fled in their car.

She gives chase

Archana was relieved to escape their clutches, but decided to take them to task for looting her — they had already snatched her car keys and documents, two phones and an ATM card. She boarded an auto rickshaw and gave chase, but both vehicles got stuck in traffic. Unfazed, Archana got down and yanked one of the accused out of the car. Even though it was near the airport and there were plenty of people around, when she cried for help, nobody came to her aid.

"There were lots of people and I even saw students passing by, but they all ignored my screams. Finally, a beggar sitting nearby noticed my struggle. He came and grabbed the accused, while I went and called for help. He even helped me take the accused to the Vile Parle police station," said Archana. Senior PI Laxman Chauhan, Vile Parle police, said, "The accused claimed he is an informer for the CBI in BKC. He also does odd jobs for film production house.

Even there, she had a hard time getting justice. "I had to roam across three police stations, as they kept transferring my case, until the accused was handed over to the Juhu police," said Archana.