NEW DELHI: Locked in a watchman’s room, fed stale food and threatened with dire consequences if he didn’t pay for the damage caused to an SUV — this is how cement mixer truck helper Prahlad Chauhan described his captivity after being allegedly abducted by the family of dismissed IAS officer Puja Khedkar. Based on his statement, police have added graver charges against Puja’s father, Dilip Khedkar, and his driver, Praful Salunkhe, who were initially booked only for kidnapping.Chauhan told police, “they took away his phone and confined him to a room for the watchman and cook. He was given stale food after being threatened with dire consequences if he did not pay up for the damage caused to the SUV.”
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Road rage kidnapping case (Image Credit: TOI)
“Hence, apart from the BNS section for kidnapping, we have invoked additional sections against Khedkar and Salunkhe for voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful confinement, extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt, and common intention,” the police said.Driver heldSalunkhe, who had been absconding since the incident, was tracked to Sindkheda in Dhule district late Friday after a six-day manhunt. Dilip remains on the run. The case stems from a road rage incident on Mulund-Airoli Road on September 13, when Khedkar’s SUV grazed a cement mixer truck. Chauhan, who was riding in the truck, was allegedly bundled into the SUV, which police are yet to recover. Meanwhile, Dilip’s wife, Manorama, has also been booked — first for obstructing police from rescuing the helper, and later for allegedly destroying CCTV evidence from the family’s Aundh bungalow in Pune. Police said, “It was found that Manorama Khedkar, with the intention of destroying evidence, gave her bedroom key to a person and removed the digital recorder.” Police said the search for Dilip and Manorama continues, while Salunkhe is now in custody.
