PANAJI
Ponda police have arrested a 22-year-old scrap dealer in connection with the kidnapping of businessman Sandeep Choudhary, who was rescued from Bengaluru on June 12.
However, police stated that the accused’s refusal to cooperate with the probe and the victim’s fragile mental state hampered their probe to establish the motive for the crime.
The accused identified as Munner Al Shafiq (22), a resident of Mangaluru, Karnataka, is believed to be known to the victim through business in the iron scrap trade.
“During interrogation, the accused disclosed that he had hired two persons for the abduction. He visited Goa on June 9 and, as per the plan, conspired with four others from Karnataka to kidnap Choudhary. On June 10, at around 3 pm, the victim was abducted from Ponda by the four associates, who were unknown to him, and forcibly taken to Karnataka in a white Swift car,” the police said.
Shafiq further told the police that he has been supplying scrap to Choudhary for the past two years.
With the assistance of police counterparts, the accused was apprehended in Kolhapur while en route from Bengaluru to Mumbai. Police said technical surveillance and reliable intelligence indicated that he was preparing to flee the country to evade arrest. He was subsequently handed over to Ponda police.
“Despite interrogation, the accused has not revealed the motive behind the crime or provided details of his accomplices. He is not cooperating with the probe,” the police said. The victim too is yet to provide a clear account of the incident as police stated he appears to be disturbed. Police are also working to trace and recover the vehicle used in the abduction.
