PANJIM: The high-profile kidnapping of a 33-year-old businessman from Colvale has unearthed a planned conspiracy hatched by the two prime accused with criminal records.
Birendra Kumar and Nishant Mohan, jailed in 2020 in a vehicle theft case, hatched the plan to kidnap Navin Patel. Kumar, an employee with a food services company mobilised three others in a bid to earn easy money.
Kumar, Mohan, Manjunath Baiganoor, Sujit Kesarkar and Subash Bhonsle were arrested within 24 hours of the complaint on Thursday and remanded by a local court to eight days custodial interrogation.
“Kumar is rowdy by nature. He masterminded the kidnapping plan along with Mohan, who was an employee at Patel’s plywood shop. As the two were earlier involved in a car theft case, they planned to jointly execute Patel’s kidnapping,” said an officer.
Mohan and another mobilised three drivers, some of whom also working with the same food services company to assist the two in the kidnapping plan.
The accused on August 2 conducted a recce to ensure smooth execution of the crime. Their attempt to kidnap Patel on August 3 was, however, postponed as he arrived late at the shop, sources said.
“On the following day, on August 4, the kidnappers were deployed at their planned spot to kidnap Patel and shift him to the abandoned building at Goa Velha. This time they were successful until a phone call to Patel’s wife demanding Rs 1 crore ransom, through a stolen mobile phone,” the officer added.
It is reportedly learnt that the antecedents of the accused were not carried out while employing them at their respective jobs. To ascertain this, the Colvale police will seek the company’s intervention by way of sharing details of their employers allegedly involved in the crime. “It is a part of the investigation,” the officer said.
It has also been reliably learnt that Mohan’s antecedents were also not verified by his employer.
