Police impostors kidnap hospital director, demand 55L ransom
Bhavnagar district sanitary inspector Ranjit Mori, his driver Pradeepsinh Parmar, a pregnant woman, an unidentified man and others are listed as accused in the FIR.
According to the FIR, the accused posed as officers of the Special Operations Group (SOG) from Gandhinagar and entered the hospital on Monday. They proclaimed that the hospital was conducting illegal prenatal sex determination tests — which Rama firmly denied.
Rama, who has been managing the hospital for 17 years with her partner Munna Gilani, said the group stormed into the hospital at about 9.00am. Two men first entered the hospital's medical store, run by Rama's son, Abhishek, and questioned his credentials. Rama was informed of the commotion and returned from her residence.
She was confronted by Ranjit Mori, who showed her an SOG ID. He was accompanied by his driver and a pregnant woman.
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The group took Rama to her office, seized her phone and recorded a video claiming that a prenatal sex determination test and financial transaction had occurred — all staged using the pregnant woman.
The accused threatened her with jail time and the arrest of her entire family unless Rs 55 lakh was paid. The demand was later reduced to Rs 40 lakh.
Rama was then forced into an SUV and driven away. A video was filmed near the Jalaram Mandir, making it seem as if she was casually having tea with them.
A WhatsApp call was made from her phone to coordinate the ransom payment.
Meanwhile, Chotila police were alerted at about 3.00pm. They tracked down the accused using the WhatsApp call logs from Abhishek's phone. Rama was rescued and Ranjit Mori and Pradeepsinh Parmar were caught at the meeting spot.
Police said Rama was kidnapped between 10.30am and 10.45am. The operation was led by investigating officer R M Sangada after intelligence was received on the extortion plot.
On Wednesday, both accused were produced before court, where police sought seven days of custodial interrogation. The scope of involvement of the pregnant woman and unidentified man is also being probed.
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