Five kidnap man, click nude pictures of him

Mumbai: Five persons who allegedly kidnapped a man, stripped him, and clicked his photographs in the nude to blackmail his family into coughing up Rs 11 lakh lest they shared those images on social media to humiliate him, have been arrested by the Ghatkopar police.

According to the police, the victim owed the accused a sum of Rs 5 lakh, and the latter staged the kidnapping to make him pay the same and more.

The five accused identified as Nilesh More, Mukesh Nair, Samir Shaikh, Shanu Matu and Rahul Matu, and the victim, Nemai Nair (32), who is into the real estate business, were part of an informal investment scheme, and a financial dispute arose among them.

A police officer said, “When it comes to managing funds, people belonging to low-income groups become a part of Bhishi investment schemes. People, who don’t wish to save their hard earned money in national or cooperative banks, become a part of the Bhishi system. Under such a system, all members of a group submit a fixed amount of money and one person collects the amount every month. That person changes by rotation so that all members can make use of the money invested by the group.”

When it was Nemai’s turn to collect the amount, he did so but did not return the Rs 5 lakh belonging to the group. Hence, the group members decided to teach him a lesson.

“They kidnapped Nemai from near his residence on Wednesday and asked his brother to give Rs 11 lakh. When Nemai’s brother could not give the said amount, the accused stripped the victim and clicked his pictures and negotiated with the family to cough up at least Rs 5 lakh,” said the police officer.