Nashik (Correspondent): A gang of four individuals has been arrested by the Crime Branch Unit-1 of Nashik City Police for kidnapping businessman Nikhil Daryanani at gunpoint and demanding ransom. The arrested include two men who carried out the kidnapping and two others who provided them with insider information.
The arrested have been identified as Mohammad Anwar Sayyed (30, resident of Nanavali, Nashik) and Sadiq Latif Sayyed (39, resident of Lekhanagar, Nashik). The police have recovered ₹2.88 lakh in cash from the accused.
Incident Details:
On April 4, around 3:15 PM, three unidentified men kidnapped businessman Nikhil Daryanani from near Kathe Galli Signal. They threatened him with a gun and demanded a ransom of ₹1 crore.
After paying ₹15 lakh, the kidnappers released Daryanani. A case was registered at the Mumbai Naka Police Station. Following this, Police Commissioner Sandeep Karnik, Deputy Commissioner of Police Prashant Bachhav, and Assistant Commissioner of Police Sandeep Mitke instructed their teams to begin a detailed investigation.
Accordingly, officers and personnel from Crime Branch Unit-1 visited the crime scene and reviewed CCTV footage from the surrounding area. After four days of intense technical analysis, they were able to identify the accused. Police Constable Rahul Palkhede was sent to search for the suspects at the homes of their friends and relatives in the Walunj MIDC area of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
At that time, an informant tipped off the police that the accused had returned to Nashik and were hiding in the Vilholi area. Palkhede immediately informed Senior Police Inspector Madhukar Kad, who led a team to trap and arrest the two main suspects. The police seized cash worth ₹2.88 lakh and mobile phones, totaling valuables worth ₹3.08 lakh.
During interrogation, the accused revealed that they had received information about Nikhil Daryanani from Alfran Shaikh and Ahmed Shaikh—employees at Daryanani’s brother’s shop. Based on this tip-off, they kidnapped Nikhil and demanded a ransom of ₹1 crore, eventually collecting ₹15 lakh from him.
The police later detained the informants—Alfran Ashpak Shaikh (25, resident of Chowk Mandi, Bhadrakali, Nashik) and Ahmed Rahim Shaikh (25, resident of Vadala Gaon, Nashik)—from Vadala Gaon. After conducting a medical examination, they were handed over to the Mumbai Naka Police.
This successful operation was carried out under the guidance of Police Commissioner Sandeep Karnik, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Prashant Bachhav, and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Mitke.
The operation was led by Senior Police Inspector Madhukar Kad and involved API Hiramann Bhoye, PSI Chetan Shrivant, PSI Sudam Sangle, Police Constables Mahesh Salunke, Uttam Pawar, Appa Panwal, Vilas Charoskar, Nitin Jagtap, Rahul Palkhede, Ram Burde, Muktar Shaikh, Rohidas Lilke, Jageshwar Borse, Driver Kiran Shirsath, Constables Sukam Pawar, Samadhan Pawar, and Manisha Sarode.
