Two months after two young men were arrested for allegedly kidnapping a 19-year-old boy in Amboli, assaulting him severely in a moving taxi and recording a video of the crime, the police on Wednesday arrested them for a similar crime in Agripada.

The police said that the duo, along with three others, kidnapped the 17-year-old son of a businessman, made him arrange for Rs 10 lakh while keeping him captive in a moving taxi and then released him after getting the money.

According to police sources, the accused have been identified as Harris Khan (19), Riyaz Ansari (20), Faiz Sheikh (19), Raibar Qureshi (19) and Shahbaz Sheikh (19). Khan and Ansari were arrested by the Amboli police on November 23 last year, along with a third accomplice.

On Wednesday, the duo and their three accomplices were arrested in a joint operation by the Crime Branch Unit III and the Agripada police.

Crime Branch officials said that on January 24 this year, the teenage victim was on his way home after visiting some friend when Faiz, Raibar and Shahbaz allegedly forced him into a taxi at knife point near the Classic Towers building in Agripada around 7:45 pm. The trio allegedly demanded Rs 10 lakh from the victim immediately. The victim then began calling up his friends, telling them he needed money urgently.

“The taxi stayed on the move, passing through Dadar, the Bandra Kurla Complex and Khar, and at various locations along this route, the victim collected money from his friends, ultimately meeting the trio’s demand of Rs 10 lakh. The trio then let the victim go near the Lilavati Hospital in Bandra. He went home and told his father about the incident, and they registered a complaint with the Agripada police on January 25,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni.

The Crime Branch then tracked the victim’s cellular location on the day of the abduction, and also found out other cellphone numbers that had gone through the same route. Based on this information, the Crime Branch began picking up suspects, leading to the arrest of the trio on Wednesday.

Further investigation revealed that Khan, who knew the victim, had masterminded the abduction and had followed the taxi at a distance to avoid being seen by the victim. Ansari also followed the taxi separately and joined the trio when the entire sum of Rs 10 lakh was collected, the police said.

Khan and Ansari were arrested by the Agripada police on Wednesday. The Crime Branch also handed over the other three accused to the Agripada police.

“All five were produced in court on Wednesday and remanded to police custody till January 31,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police S Jayakumar, Zone III.

On November 15 last year, Khan, Ansari and Adam Ali Sehlot (21) had allegedly forced Lokhandwala resident Ayush Panchal, studying in the same college as the trio, into a taxi and assaulted him severely while the taxi kept moving. Ansari then allegedly shot a video of the assault, and made Ayush promise, on camera, that he would stay away from Khan’s girlfriend.

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