CHENNAI: A team of Maharashtra police has reached Chennai to probe the suspected abduction of a 26-year-old Indian Navy sailor from Chennai Airport on January 30.
Three Chennai police teams are helping them out. The sailor was allegedly set on fire on Friday in a forest in Maharashtra’s Palghar district. He died while being shifted to a hospital, said police.
The victim, Suraj Kumar Dubey, a native of Ranchi and posted at INS Agrani near Coimbatore, was allegedly abducted at gunpoint outside the airport for ransom, according to a statement given by Dubey to police reportedly before he succumbed to injuries.
He was reportedly kept captive in Chennai for three days and later shifted to Palghar district.
On the sixth day (Friday), the gang tied Dubey and set him on fire. With the help of locals, he managed to reach a primary health centre despite suffering severe burn injuries.
News agency PTI said, quoting Palghar police spokesperson Sachin Navadkar, that the man died while being shifted to Naval Hospital.
According to Chennai police sources, the officer landed in Chennai around 9.00 pm on January 30. He took an Indigo flight from Ranchi to Chennai.
However, the city police contested the claim about the venue of abduction (near airport) and said that various footage clearly showed him getting out of airport and freely walking towards Airport Metro Station.