India News | History-sheeter, Aide Held for Kidnapping Real Estate Agent

Mumbai, May 19 (PTI) Police have arrested a history- sheeter and his associate for allegedly kidnapping a Mumbai- based real estate agent and demanding Rs 1 crore for his release, a case which also features a finance company and duped investors, an official said on Wednesday.

The duo, nabbed by the Crime Branch Unit-11 on May 15 from suburban Malad, was identified by the police as Nevada Putman, a man with criminal record, and his associate Ravi.

Another accused in the case, named only as Veera, was yet to be apprehended, the official said.

The victim, Kunbedran Chettiar, told the police that Putman and his associates Ravi and Veera kidnapped him and kept him confined for three days last month, he said.

They demanded Rs 1 crore in extortion money from the real estate agent to release him, the official said, quoting from a complaint.

Besides dealing in real estate, Chettiar was also associated with a finance company which was paying handsome returns to investors, and on his advice many people had put money in its schemes, the official said.

However, in January this year, the company shut its office and its executives fled, he said.

People who had invested in the company on Chettiar's advice started approaching him to get their money back, but to no avail, the official said.

Some of them then approached Putman, who called up Chettiar and asked him to return investor money amounting to Rs 5 crore to Rs 7 crore, he said.

In April, Putman and his two associates kidnapped Chettiar and confined him to a place in Malad where they also assaulted him, the police official said.

They demanded Rs 1 crore on behalf of around 10 duped investors who had approached the history-sheeter, he said.

After spending three days in confinement, Chettiar managed to reach home and on last Saturday, he lodged an FIR after which the two accused were arrested, the official said.

No money was paid to Putman, he said.

Senior inspector from the Bangur Nagar police, Shobha Pise, confirmed the arrest of Putman and his associate, and said further investigation in the case was underway.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)