In Hadapsar, four people including a police officer were arrested for allegedly kidnapping and extracting money from a doctor on 31st May. The incident took place on 31st May as per a press release issued by Deputy Commissioner of Police Bachchan Singh on Wednesday.

According to the police officials, the four accused, Pradeep Dnyandev Fasage (37), Kailas Bhanudas Avchite with Sameer Jagannath Thorat, a police constable who is attached to the Pune City Police headquarters, along with a woman, Arti Prabhakar Chavan (29), had gone to a hospital in Hadapsar on 31st May. The woman went to see the doctor pretending to be a patient but as soon as he started to examine her, she started screaming suddenly.The other three accused partners, who were waiting outside the hospital, rushed immediately inside.

The three men kidnapped the doctor, claiming to be police personnel and took him in a car to Saswad Road and later to an office in Hadapsar, where they detained him. They even assaulted the doctor and threatened to lodge a police complaint against him if he did not pay them Rs 10 lakh. The two accused, Fasage and Avchite, also claimed to be journalists and threatened the doctor and his hospital regarding defamation. After several negotiations, the accused then agreed to settle for Rs 7 lakh.

The doctor then tried to reach out to his family, friends and subordinate doctors and did manage to arrange for Rs 5.89 lakh, said the police. After receiving the money, the doctor was released by the accused. The police said that the doctor was in a state of shock and did not file a complaint soon after being released. He discussed this incident with one of his friend in the police department and then lodged the FIR regarding this matter at the Hadapsar police station.

After an extensive search, the accused were arrested. They were also booked under sections 386 (extraction by putting a person in fear of death), 364 (a) (kidnap for ransom), 384 (extortion), 388 (coercion by threat of accusation of a crime punishable with death or imprisonment), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (1) (criminal intimidation), 143 (individual of an unlawful assembly) and 34 (acts done by many people with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

DCP Singh said that further investigation is ongoing to search for the bigger racket behind this incident.

Source: The Indian Express