Diamond broker’s 13-yr-old son kidnapped, killed in city

Kin & Brother’s Friend Wanted 30L Ransom To Cover Betting Losses

S Ahmed Ali TNN

Mumbai: In a chilling reminder of the Adnan Patrawala kidnap-murder, the 13-year-old son of a south Mumbai diamond broker was kidnapped for ransom on Monday — allegedly to cover T20 betting losses — and then murdered when the kidnappers panicked. The body of Aditya Rankha was found dumped near the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai.
    The police have arrested Aditya’s cousin Himanshu Rankha, 28, and Bijesh Sanghvi, a friend of Aditya’s elder brother, who were ironically helping Aditya’s father Jitendra file a kidnapping complaint at the V P Road police station.
    Police said Aditya, a Class VI student, was at home at Pawanpuri building in Khetwadi, Girgaum, when his mother received a call on the landline on Monday afternoon. The caller told her that her husband had sent some keys to be handed over to her.
    Aditya’s mother sent her teenaged son downstairs to collect the supposed keys. Aditya never returned. Later, the police were told Aditya was seen being pulled into a car.
    Within half an hour, Jitendra received a call from a landline number telling him that Aditya was with the callers and, if he wanted his son back, he should shell out Rs 30 lakh. “The father thought this was a prank and so disconnected the phone,” said a police officer.
    “However, he later realized that his son was missing and began searching for him.” The officer said Jitendra called up a few close friends and relatives, including Himanshu.
    At 7pm on Monday, Jitendra went to the V P Road police station to lodge a kidnapping complaint. Himanshu and Bijesh too reached the station and behaved as though they were worried about Aditya’s disappearance. They helped Jitendra lodge the complaint.
DAD HAD DISMISSED DEMAND AS PRANK
The alleged kidnappers, Himanshu Rankha and Bijesh Sanghvi, lost Rs 7 lakh in T20 cricket bets. They kidnapped 13-year-old Aditya Rankha so that they could use the ransom to pay their debts
Himanshu was Aditya's cousin and Bijesh his elder brother's friend
Himanshu and Bijesh showed up at the police station to help Aditya's father
Jitendra file the kidnapping complaint
They then let the police ride in Bijesh's Honda City (left) to the Rankhas' residence
Aditya's slippers and blood were found
in the Honda City Kidnapped teenager’s body had multiple wounds
    The police then asked the father to show them the spot from where Aditya had been reportedly kidnapped,” said deputy commissioner of police Nisar Tamboli. “While two policemen sat in Jitendra’s car, two others went in Bijesh’s Honda City.” Tamboli said that the policemen in Bijesh’s car were surprised to find blood as well as slippers in the car. When the police reached Pawanpuri building, the slippers were identified by people there as Aditya’s.
    The police took Bijesh into custody and interrogated him. The police questioned him about where he had been the whole day and how Aditya’s slippers had ended up in his car. Bijesh allegedly broke down and admitted to kidnapping and murdering Aditya and said his friend Himanshu helped him. The police detained both the youths and questioned them separately.
    “The two men said they had lost Rs 7 lakh while betting on recent T20 matches,” said a senior crime branch officer. “They had to pay back their debts and hatched a plan to kidnap Aditya.” When asked why they killed the boy, the crime branch officer said that the two were disappointed when Jitendra had not responded to their ransom call. Furthermore, they were afraid that if they let Aditya go, he would identify them since he knew them.
    They allegedly told police that they stabbed Aditya inside the car and threw his body in the jungle near the Expressway. The VP Road police and crime branch officers traced Aditya’s body in the jungle on Tuesday. Aditya’s body, which has several wounds, has been sent for a post-mortem to JJ Hospital, Byculla.
    The victim is survived by an elder brother, younger sister, mother and father Jitendra, who works at Panchratna building, Opera House.
    Police sources said investigations have revealed that Himanshu and Bijesh are in the metal business and would often bet on cricket matches.
    The kidnapping and murder of Aditya are reminiscent of the Patrawala case of 2007. Patrawala, 16, went missing on August 18 and his siblings got a call saying he would return the next morning. On August 20, police found the Lokhandwala resident’s body in the marsh near Palm Beach Road, Nerul.

1 Monday afternoon: Thirteen-year-old Aditya Rankha goes downstairs at his building in Khetwadi to pick up some keys that his diamond broker father has supposedly sent home. He is not seen after that

2 Around 7pm: Aditya's father Jitendra goes to the police station to lodge a kidnapping complaint after he had received a ransom call. His nephew Himanshu Rankha, 28, and Bijesh Sanghvi show up to help him

3 7 to 7.30pm: The police go back to the Rankhas' building to investigate, travelling in Jitendra's and Bijesh's cars. They see blood and slippers in Bijesh's car. They find out that the slippers are Aditya’s and Bijesh confesses to murder

MURDERED IN HIS YOUTH: Aditya Rankha, 13, was kidnapped from outside Pawanpuri building in Khetwadi, Girgaum, where he lived with his parents, brother and sister