The mystery surrounding the alleged kidnapping of 18-year-old Raj Khandwala, son of a leading stock broker and Cuffe Parade resident, Mayank Khandwala, may be solved soon.
On Thursday, Raj was allegedly kidnapped by an unknown person near the Cricket Club of India (CCI) when he was on his way to a party. According to the police, Raj was released by the kidnappers on the same night itself. “Raj came with his parents and registered a First Information Report (FIR) against an unknown person,” said an officer from the Marine Drive police station.
Raj, a student of Class X, is dyslexic and studies privately. “Raj, along with some other friends, organisesparties and events at high-end hotels. They sometimes gave away passes, which are quite expensive otherwise, to people they know, for free,” said senior police inspector, Zunjarrao Gharal. “We think the kidnappers could be college students who wanted free passes for the New Year eve’s party being organised by Raj,” said the officer.
Initially, the kidnappers wanted passes but when they realised that they could extort money from Raj’s parents, they decided to kidnap him, Raj told the police. “The whole incident was narrated to us by Raj. He says the kidnappers covered his face with a black cloth and then drove him in a taxi, but released him later,” said a police officer.
“No ransom calls were made to the Khandwala family but Raj is saying that the kidnappers were asking for money,” said Gharal. Now the police are investigating whether the claims made by Raj are true, or whether he staged his own kidnapping.
“We have a mobile number, which we are tracing to reach the kidnapper. We’ll know if the claims made by Raj are true or not,” said another officer.
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