Four suspects who have been held in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Adnan Patrawala have told interrogators that they were able to abduct him on the sixth attempt.
MUMBAI: Four suspects who have been held in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Adnan Patrawala have told interrogators that they were able to abduct him on the sixth attempt, police said on Saturday.
"The gang liked to splurge on gaming in big parlours and due to which they were in want for money. They had decided to abduct someone and reached the name of Adnan as he was very wealthy," said a senior police official.
Sixteen-year old Adnan, son of a wealthy businessman, was kidnapped on August 18 and later murdered as the abductors got scared following the broadcast of news on television channels.
Four of Adnan's acquaintances - Sujith Nair (28), Ayush Bhatt (19), Khimesh Ambavat (17) and Rajiv Dhariya (24) - have been arrested so far while they are on the lookout for the fifth one identified as Lalan.
"Though Sujith is the mastermind, Ayush also has a great role to play in the incident as he was the closest to Adnan. The gang has told us that they were successful in abducting Adnan on their sixth attempt," said the official.
It was due to Ayush that Adnan came out of the house late at night on August 18 and the gang had been planning for over one and half month about the abduction, the officer said.
"They were armed with a rope, pepper spray and sleeping pills at the time of abduction and he was drugged before being killed," the officer said.
"Adnan was sitting on the rear seat of the car being driven by Sujith. He was sitting between Ayush and Khimesh who strangulated him using a rope while Rajiv sat in the front seat holding his hands."
The gang of five had decided to distribute Rs 20 lakh each among themselves once the ransom money of Rs one crore was paid by Adnan's parents, the officer said.
"Many were hailing from well-to-do households and had very lavish lifestyle and nearly all of them had debts to clear for which they decided to kidnap their friend Adnan," the officer added.
Adnan knew Ayush much before the others and got more acquainted with the others at a gaming parlour of a suburban mall.
Ayush used to work in a call centre and earn Rs 18,000 per month till about three months ago when he lost his job. He had also borrowed Rs 21,000 from a family friend while the other accused also had high debts, the officer said.
Sujith, who also used to work in a call centre, wanted to migrate to Dubai with the money and also had a substantial amount as outstanding to be paid to credit card companies.
One of their "common friends" called-up the abductors saying the news is being aired on TV along with Adnan's photograph which said he had been kidnapped after which the four youths got frightened and killed Adnan.
The arrested youths are currently in police custody.
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