Man abducted in Palghar; business rival, sacked woman are prime suspects

MUMBAI: A 39-year-old businessman was allegedly abducted by four unidentified men in a vehicle at Palghar on Thursday. A business rival and a woman are the prime suspects in the crime. While no ransom calls have been made yet, the family allegedly received calls threatening them against approaching the police.
Four teams have been formed to track down the victim, Arif Shaikh, owner of Palghar's Alpha Metals, said inspector Dashrath Patil.The SUV in which he was allegedly abducted was found abandoned in Boisar. Closed circuit television (CCTV) images captured at toll booths show Shaikh in a small car headed towards Gujarat along with the abductors.
On Thursday, Shaikh, a Mira Road resident, decided to ditch the road drive and took a train to Palghar. At Palghar station, post noon, he hired an autorickshaw and headed to his factory, around five kilometres away. As he neared the factory, four men alighted from a white SUV, forced him into it and drove away. The auto driver who has dropped Shaikh to the factory on earlier occasions alerted the factory supervisor Ajay Maske who in turn called Palghar police and the victim's family.
The prime suspects are a business rival and a 40-year-old woman who was reportedly sacked from her job in a Palghar company where Shaikh supplied mixer grinder metal parts. While the family nor factory staffers have received any ransom calls, three unknown callers have warned the family against approaching the police.
Shaikh and the business rival were allegedly at loggerheads as the former did better business than the latter. The woman, who moved to Bengaluru last week, was sacked for alleged misappropriation of funds. She had accused Shaikh of alerting her employer about the fraud. Police are investigating if the two had got together to abduct Shaikh. The business rival's cellphone is switched off and he is untraceable. Police have detained his brother for questioning and the woman has been asked to be present at Palghar police station.
Shaikh's cellphone has been switched off too. A case has been registered under Indian Penal Code's Section 365 for kidnapping.