Overview
- The 31-year-old steel trader, identified by Hindustan Times as Jayesh Oswal, was abducted Tuesday after leaving for his Timber Market shop near Swargate as kidnappers called his wife on a social app to demand Rs 1.5 crore.
- Officers set a trap at Mitramandal Chowk after ransom drop instructions, where a Crime Branch team detained two men who arrived to collect the cash.
- Details those two gave investigators led teams to Khed Shivapur on Wednesday morning, where police rescued the victim and arrested three more suspects.
- Police named five accused — Pranav Baban Nivangune, 23, Sahil Shrikant Khutwad, 21, Saurav Vishwanath Pawar, 27, Shirish Jitendra Khopde, 26, and Mandar Shridhar Dawartkar, 30 — and said a money dispute linked to an earlier GST-fraud case was the motive.
- The men were produced in court Wednesday and a magistrate granted police custody until March 29 as Senior Inspector Yashwant Nikam’s team continues the probe.