3 min readPuneUpdated: Mar 26, 2026 12:39 AM ISTThe three have been identified as Saurav Vishwanath Pawar (27), an engineer and a businessman, Shirish Jitendra Khopde (26) and Mandar Shridhar Dawartkar (30).A 31-YEAR-OLD steel trader from Pune who was kidnapped for a ransom of Rs 1.5 crore over a financial dispute, was rescued by the Pune City Police following a coordinated operation. Police have arrested five men including an engineer who had the dispute with the abductee over money.The investigation and rescue operation was conducted by the Crime Branch of the Pune city police. On Tuesday afternoon, the wife of the trader approached the police informing that her husband had been kidnapped. The wife had received a call in which she was told that her husband had been kidnapped and a ransom of Rs 1.5 crore was demanded. Earlier in the day, the trader had left home for work to his shop in the Timber Market area as usual. An offence of kidnapping was registered at Swargate police station and subsequently multiple teams from the Crime Branch launched an investigation.“The kidnappers who demanded the ransom of Rs 1.5 crore had asked that the money be dropped at Mitramandal Chowk in Swargate area. One of the crime branch teams laid a trap in Mitramandal Chowk area. This team nabbed two suspects who had come to collect the money,” said an officer who was part of the probe.The two suspects Pranav Baban Nivangune (23) and Sahil Shrikant Khutwad (21) were grilled by the Crime Branch team and soon spilled the beans that three other suspects had taken the victim in a car to Khed Shivapur area. The duo not only gave police the names and numbers of the three others but also made a registration number of the car used for kidnapping.“We launched a coordinated rescue operation with multiple teams working on different aspects. Two teams focussed on rescue, other tracked them while remaining closed in on them by covering all the escape routes from the area where they were located. The trader was rescued on Wednesday morning and we managed to arrest the remaining three kidnappers.” the officer added. The three have been identified as Saurav Vishwanath Pawar (27), an engineer and a businessman, Shirish Jitendra Khopde (26) and Mandar Shridhar Dawartkar (30).The officer added, “Investigation has revealed that a case was registered against the victim last year for suspected GST fraud for giving fake receipts. In the financial transactions linked to that case, there was ongoing financial dispute between kidnapping accused Pawar and the victim. Probe suggests that Pawar planned to recover money from the victim by kidnapping him and demanding ransom from family. Subsequently Pawar and his four accomplices hatched a plan to kidnap the victim.” The five accused will be produced before the court on Thursday where the police will seek their custodial remand.Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:pune