Criminal inspired by Crime Patrol lands behind bars

Mumbai: The Mumbai police on Friday night rescued a 10-year-old boy who had been kidnapped by one his neighbours. The kidnapper, who was allegedly in need of Rs 10,000, was inspired by the popular TV show, Crime Patrol.

According to the police, the accused identified as Deepak Kumar (32), hails from Bihar and stays in a slum in Antop Hill. “He was in need of money as his salary was not providing enough for his family’s needs. He thought he could imitate the crime episodes and decided to hatch the kidnapping plan,” said N Ambika, deputy commissioner of police, Zone 4. After planning the kidnapping, Kumar on January 19, lured Rudraksh C. P. Shetty who stayed in the same chawl as the accused. “Kumar, who had been studying the minor since some days, approached the boy while he was out playing.  Kumar offered him chocolates and took him to Girgaum Chowpatty and then to Kashimira by train.

“He asked the boy for his father’s number and called him demanding a ransom of '10,000. He also threatened to kill their son if they approached the police,” said Ambika. Meanwhile, the Antop Hill police, after registering the case, started investigating. The police prepared seven teams for this and took the help of Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU). Two Mumbai police zones with the Antop Hill police started probing the case.

“We first sent a team to Kashimira to trace the call but found that he had moved to Dahanu and in the same hour the father got a call from the accused asking him to drop off the money at a location in Dahanu,” said Ambika. A team led by Rajendra Sangle reached the address registered with the phone number and found that it belonged to someone else who told the police that his friend had taken his sim card stating that his was not functional. “One of our other teams also found that a factory worker, had gone missing on the same day of kidnapping and had told his friends that he was returning to his native place,” said Ambika.

The police arrested the accused when he came to collect the money. “We have booked him under relevant sections,” said a police source.