'Lured with fake deal, tortured for ransom': Missing Pune bizman found murdered in Bihar's Jehanabad

PUNE: The owner of a casting and bearing unit at Khed Shivapur off the Pune-Bengaluru highway reported missing by his family since April 12 was found murdered at Jehanabad in Bihar by the Patna police.
Kothrud resident Laxman Shinde (55) boarded a flight to Patna on April 11 after receiving an email from a business contact about acquiring a cheap machine. His whereabouts were not known after he landed.
Shinde's relative lodged a missing person's complaint with the Kothrud police on Saturday. A Kothrud police team and his relatives visited Patna to look for him in hospitals and other places.
"On Monday evening, the Patna police informed our team they had found a body unidentified and unclaimed since April 12. Our team and the family reached the mortuary and the latter identified the body as Shinde's," senior inspector Sandeep Deshmane of the Kothrud police told TOI.
Shinde's body was brought to Pune on Tuesday and the last rites were performed.
A Pune police statement said Shinde fell victim to a sophisticated cyber-led business entrapment. He received a seemingly genuine business enquiry via email, offering a potential high-value order of approximately Rs 100 crore related to mining equipment for operations in Jharkhand. He was invited to Patna for further discussions. Upon arriving in Patna on April 11, he met the individuals concerned. However, he became unreachable around 10pm and all messages sent from his phone were found deleted.
"His whereabouts remained unknown for over two days. The body was found on April 14 in Jehanabad and it is believed he was murdered on April 12," the statement said.
The joint investigation by the Bihar and Maharashtra police has led to the arrest of 11 people, including a woman, and exposed a gang that systematically targeted businessmen for extortion.
According to police, the gang operated by enticing businessmen with fraudulent business proposals, often sent via email under the name of Coal India Ltd. Once a victim responded, they were invited to Patna under the pretext of securing a contract, only to be kidnapped and tortured for ransom.
After his abduction, the perpetrators managed to extract Rs 90,000 from him, but Shinde succumbed to the injuries inflicted during torture. His body was later dumped on NH33 and discovered the following morning on April 12.
Patna SSP Avkash Kumar said, "The missing complaint was registered at Patna's Airport police station on April 12. Investigation and technical inquiries led to raids in three districts of Bihar and resulted in the arrest of 11 people, so far. Efforts are being made to arrest the remaining criminals," Kumar added.
The arrested people confessed to the crime and admitted involvement in six similar incidents.
(Inputs by Faryal Rumi)