'Kidnapped' Mumbai builder traced to rehab; admitted forcibly by first wife

Mumbai, Oct 7 (PTI) In a bizarre twist to a kidnapping case, a Mumbai-based builder "abducted" from his home was traced to a rehabilitation centre in neighbouring Palghar district, where he was sent on the orders of his first wife, police said on Tuesday.

As per a complaint lodged with the Versova police, unidentified men allegedly abducted Chandrakant Bhunu from his house in the Four Bungalows locality on Sunday night, an official said.

Bhunu's second wife, Afsana Arab, in her complaint, claimed that four men arrived at their doorstep and forced him to accompany them, taking him away in a car.

She had alleged that the incident was linked to a property dispute with the builder's son from his first marriage, the official said.

He said based on the complaint, the Versova police registered a case of kidnapping and launched a search along with the crime branch. They successfully traced Bhunu's location to a rehabilitation centre in Vasai in Palghar district.

The official said the "abduction" was, in fact, an intervention planned by the victim's first wife, who was concerned about his alcoholism, and she had him admitted to the rehab centre against his will.

The men who forcibly removed the builder from his home were employees of the rehabilitation centre acting on the instructions of his first wife, he said. PTI ZA ARU