Two senior executives of a shipping company were today arrested for allegedly concocting a kidnapping-cum-robbery story as they were in need of money, police said.
Ketan Bhanushali and Krishna Mishra, General Manager and Assistant Manager respectively of the firm, faked the story and made Rs 4 lakh in the process, police said.
Last night, Mishra along with a friend Jaysingh Balsingh approached Pydhonie police station claiming Bhanushali has been "kidnapped" and he had Rs 24 lakh in cash with him, police said.
An officer said Balsingh had sought Rs 25 lakh from a money lender in south Mumbai. After the lender agreed to give the cash, Balsingh requested his friend Bhanushali to collect Rs 24 lakh (Rs 1 lakh was deducted as interest amount) .
Meanwhile, Mishra told police that Bhanushali had telephoned him and asked him to wait near a restaurant in Bhendi Bazar area at 8.30 pm yesterday.
"As I was standing, Bhanushali reached there with the cash in a car. Suddenly, four unidentified men appeared on the scene and suddenly forced Bhanshali inside the car and drove away," Mishra told police.
Going by Mishra's version, police registered a kidnapping and robbery case.
"We immediately swung into action and at about 2 AM today the said car was spotted in Dadar. Upon reaching there, we found Bhanushali sitting inside quietly. He was found with Rs 20 lakh in cash," the police officer said.
"During interrogation, Bhanushali claimed four men kidnapped him and took him to Worli from where they fled after taking away Rs 4 lakh from the cash," the officer added.
However, police grew suspicious when Bhanushali kept changing his statements and sequence of events about the "kidnap and robbery" episode.
Tactful interrogation led him to confess that he along with his friend Mishra staged the abduction drama for Rs 4 lakh as they were in need of cash.
Subsequently, Mishra and Bhanushali were arrested.
