A Navy sailor succumbed to his injuries after he was set on fire by his kidnappers in the jungles of the Palghar district in Maharashtra, the police said on Saturday (February 6). It was earlier reported that the 26-year-old man was abducted in Chennai on January 30.
The man who is identified as Suraj Kumar Dubey died on Friday (February 5) when he was getting shifted to a hospital in Mumbai, said the police.
Zee News quoted a Navy spokesperson as saying that Dubey was on leave when he was kidnapped. He was later found with 90 per cent burn injuries in Palghar on Friday and shifted to the Navy hospital, INHS Asvini. He was declared dead on arrival.
Palghar district police spokesperson Sachin Navadkar told media that Dubey was posted at the INS Agrani near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and he was from Ranchi. According to the police, three men kidnapped Dubey at gunpoint on January 30 around 9 pm outside the Chennai airport when he was returning from a vacation. The abductors demanded a ransom amount of Rs 10 lakh for his release.
It is reported that the kidnappers kept Dubey in captivity in Chennai for three days and later shifted him around 1,400 km away to the Talasari area of Palghar in Maharashtra. The police said that the kidnappers tied the victim's hands and legs and later set him on fire in the jungles near Gholvad. The perpetrators fled the scene.
With the help of some locals, Dubey ran away and reached the Dahanu Primary Health Centre, the police added. He had told the police about all that happened before he died, said the police spokesperson.
News agency ANI quoted the victim's father, Suraj Kr Dubey as saying, "I want justice for my son. That's the message I want to get across via media. He gave statement before dying that he was kidnapped & imprisoned for 3 days, being made an object of ransom. He was then brought to Palghar and burnt to death."
The police spokesperson said that a case of murder under section 302 of the IPC and other sections was registered against the unidentified kidnappers and the investigation was ongoing.
