A man had to spend over two months in captivity just because his friend eloped with a married woman, police said.  

His abductors —  the woman’s husband and four of his associates — knew he didn’t have a role to play in the elopement, but they still kept him hostage, hoping that his friend may contact him. 

This is the story of Rafiqul Islam Mondal, a 36-year-old chauffeur hailing from Assam. He was kidnapped by a gang of five while walking home on Myrtle Lane in Richmond Town around 9 pm on September 18.

Chetan Singh Rathore, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), narrated how the crime unfolded. 

The gang snatched Mondal’s phone and took him to their office in Bamboo Bazaar, Shivajinagar, where they locked him up and thrashed him. 

They thought Mondal would know the whereabouts of his friend Farooq, who had eloped with the wife of Ismail Shariff, one of the abductors, a few months ago. But they learnt soon after that Mondal didn’t know where Farooq was. 

But they still kept Mondal hostage hoping that Farooq may contact him. They kept switching his phone on and off so that he could call his family back home and tell them he was fine. The family, however, got suspicious and filed a complaint at the Ashok Nagar police station. Police then started tracking Mondal’s number. 

On November 20, Mondal told Sharif that he had to make a call to his family in Assam. The gang took him to a petrol bunk near the Indiranagar metro station. Police learnt about this from a source, rescued Mondal and nabbed Sharif and Kashif Khan, another suspect.