This story is from May 20, 2019

Pune: Four abduct land dealer, rob him of SUV, cash and gold

A 27-year-old land dealer, who wanted to sell his sports utility vehicle (SUV) through an online market, was abducted on Thursday by four men posing as buyers.
Pune: Four abduct land dealer, rob him of SUV, cash and gold
Representative image
PUNE: A 27-year-old land dealer, who wanted to sell his sports utility vehicle (SUV) through an online market, was abducted on Thursday by four men posing as buyers.
The suspects also robbed him of Rs 5.9 lakh gold ornaments and his SUV, collectively worth Rs12 lakh.
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They withdrew the amount from the victim, Akash Bedge’s, bank account and also forced him to ask for more money from his relative, which the suspects immediately transferred to another account.

The suspects then dumped Bedge at Nerul in Navi Mumbai on Friday and fled.
Bedge, a resident of Kharabwadi in Khed taluka, lodged a complaint with the Chakan police on Saturday.
V D Jadgale, the sub-inspector of Chakan police told TOI that Bedge wanted to sell his Mahindra Scorpio. He had posted details about his vehicle on the website.
On Wednesday, a person contacted Bedge and met him for the test drive of the car.
“On Thursday evening, the suspect along with two more men met Bedge near
Alandi Phata for the test drive and to finalize the deal,” Jagdale said.
One of the suspects took charge of the wheel and started driving towards Alandi. After driving for some distance, two of the suspects in the vehicle, started to thrash Bedge.
“The suspects then tied Bedge’s hands with a cellphone charger cord and pushed his head down so he could not raise an alarm,” Jagdale said.
When the SUV stopped, the suspect realised that he was on the Pune-Mumbai expressway.
“The men shifted to a BMW car, with a fourth suspect behind the wheel, and started driving towards Mumbai,” the sub-inspector said.
They removed Bedge’s gold ornaments and forced him to reveal his debit card’s PIN and withdrew Rs90,000 from his account.
The suspects then confined Bedge in a room and beat him up again.
They demanded more money for his release. “Bedge then contacted a relative and requested her to transfer the money to his account. She transferred Rs5 lakh which the suspects immediately moved to another account,” Jagdale said.
On Friday, around 11.45pm the suspects abandoned Bedge in Nerul.
They returned his cellphone. Bedge then contacted his friends who picked him up from Nerul and they returned home.
He lodged a complaint with the police on Saturday. He sustained injuries on his face and near his eyes.
“The investigation so far revealed that Rs5 lakh were transferred to a bank account in Gujarat. Our probe is going on,” Jagdale said
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About the Author
Mihir Tanksale

Mihir Tanksale is a senior correspondent at The Times of India, Pune, and covers crime news. He is a post-graduate in Journalism and Communication from Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication and has been with the media since 1999. He loves Sufi music, enjoys long drives and reads books in Marathi.

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