Duo take victim to four ATMs, withdraw Rs 45,000, land up at his house for more; sent to jail after Thane cops lay trap.When nature calls, you better watch your back. A 36-year-old government bank manager learnt this the hard way when he stopped to take a leak on Tuesday morning at a deserted stretch in Thane. Two extortionists caught him and alleged he was masturbating. He was kidnapped, assaulted and forced to cough up Rs 45,000 before the police laid a trap and arrested the accused.The bank manager’s ordeal began at 10.30 am when he was answering nature’s call behind two parked vehicles near the Hiranandani Meadows complex on the Pokhran road in Thane. Two unidentified men caught hold of him and started assaulting him.When he tried to stop them and asked them why they were hitting him, they reportedly told him that they had seen him masturbating while ogling at a woman passing by. They threatened to call in the police and claimed that they had taken a video of the act. They pushed the man into an autorickshaw and started assaulting him again. They threatened to upload the video that they had “recorded” on their phone on social media and destroy the man’s dignity and reputation.When Mumbai Mirror met the man on Friday, he was distraught. “The accused kept assaulting me and asked for all my personal details which they noted in a diary.They even checked my identity card, driving licence and also made calls on my cell phone. They had initially pushed me into an autorickshaw claiming to take me to the police but they kept assaulting me. Fearing that I might get grievously hurt, I told them whatever they asked me. One of them was wearing a turban and he told me to confess that I was masturbating looking at women passing by the road. I did whatever they asked me to. I was very scared,” he told Mirror.“They recorded the confession and then asked me to pay Rs 1 lakh or they would upload both the videos. I was very scared and also feared that these guys would kill me so I did whatever they asked me to. One of them then got out of the auto and rode my bike; the turbanclad one stayed with me in the auto took me to four ATMs and forced me to withdraw Rs 45,000, which is my daily withdrawal limit. They then dumped me on Ghodbunder Road and said that this was only the first instalment. I was told I’ll have to keep paying them I didn’t want to be defamed on social media,” he added.On Wednesday, the accused started calling the victim from 9 in the morning. When he didn’t answer the phone, they sent him SMSes threatening to come to his house. At 7.30 pm, the accused landed up at his apartment but were not let in as the victim was not at home. The manager got very scared and discussed the incident with a colleague. On the colleague’s advice, he spoke to the accused duo – they demanded Rs 10 lakh. Either pay through your pocket, or get a loan, he was told.“I approached a senior police officer and at the Vartak Nagar police station. A case was registered on Thursday against the accused. The police asked me to agree to meeting the duo so that a trap could be laid. I spoke to them and they agreed to meet me at 10.30 am on Friday. When I went to meet them, the police took them into custody,” said the victim.“The accused have been identified as Nishant Thakur and Jatindra Singh Ghatra who have been booked and arrested for kidnapping for ransom, extortion, threatening and assault. They were produced in court which has remanded them in police custody till August 25,” said Thane DCP VB Chandanshive.Ghatra has four cases of extortion registered against him. Thane police are pulling up the records of Thakur to find out whether he is a habitual offender or a first-timer.The victim, meanwhile, is immensely relieved.