Title - Abducted train driver freed, two held

AHMEDABAD: Two men were arrested by Government Railway Police officials posted at the Ahmedabad railway station at Kalupur. The men had allegedly abducted a train driver from the railway station on June 24.

Mahesh Baje, the train driver also moonlights as a Gujarati film director and an organizer of magic shows. Baje had collected Rs 50 lakh for the making of a Gujarati feature film but needed more money. "He had told many of his friends and acquaintances that he had collected a large portion of the money but would need another Rs 15 to 20 lakh to start filming," said a GRP official.

On June 24, four men met him at Ahmedabad railway station and offered to give him the required money. They asked him to accompany them. They took him to Gadhada in Bhavnagar district and kept him under illegal detention there.

The abductors called up his family members and demanded a ransom of Rs 50 lakh. The frantic family approached city police and a joint operation was launched with GRP officials to track Baje. The family kept negotiating with the abductors over the phone, while the cops tried to track them down. The negotiations proved rather fruitful as the kidnappers lowered their ransom demand to Rs 5 lakh and then to Rs 1 lakh.

When the kidnappers arrived at the predetermined spot in Saraspur to collect the ransom, plainclothesmen arrested them. "Nitin Solanki and Hitesh Parmar, two kidnappers were caught and Mahesh was rescued from their clutches. Two others are still absconding - Pankaj Rathod and Dhamah. Nitin and Hitesh say that the mastermind is Pankaj and he knew Baje and his filmmaking plans. All four have criminal historysheets and have been arrested earlier for a variety of criminal offences," said GRP officials.