Kidnapped Navy Sailor Burnt Alive For Not Paying Rs 10 Lakh Ransom

Mubarak Ansari

Palghar, February 6, 2021: A naval sailor, abducted from Chennai airport and taken to a forest in the Western Ghats at Vevaji village in Talasari taluka of Palghar district, was burnt alive after refusing to pay a ransom of Rs 10 lakh, said Superintendent of Police (Palghar) Dattatray Shinde.

The deceased sailor’s name is Suraj Kumar Mithilesh Dubey (27), a native of Kolhuua Khurd village of Purviha Panchayat in Chainpur block of Jharkhand’s Palamu district. 

Gholwad police rushed Dubey to Agar Sub-District Hospital after locals informed them about the incident. He succumbed to his injuries on Saturday after being shifted to a Mumbai hospital for further treatment.

Dubey, a leading seaman posted at INS Agrani in Coimbatore, had arrived at Chennai airport on January 31 where he was abducted by three strangers. He was detained at an undisclosed location in Chennai for three days and was demanded Rs 10 lakh as ransom. 

After he refused, he was brought by car to the forest in the Western Ghats at Vevaji village in Talasari taluka near the Maharashtra-Gujarat border around 9 am on February 5 (yesterday). After threatening him with a revolver, the trio poured petrol on his body and set him on fire.

Meanwhile, after seeing a naked man in the forest around noon, the locals informed the Vevaji police chowky under Gholwad police station. Police rushed Dubey to Agar Sub-District Hospital in Dahanu where he narrated his ordeal to the cops.

He was later shifted to Mumbai for further treatment, where he died during treatment. After getting information, his father had reached Mumbai on Friday. Today morning Suraj succumbed to injuries.

A case under Sections 302 (murder), 364 (kidnapping for ransom), 392 (robbery), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against the three unidentified kidnappers at Gholwad police station. The officer-in-charge of the police station is conducting further investigation.

Navy statement

“A Naval sailor, Suraj Kumar Dubey, L/S, age 26 yrs of INS Agrani, on leave from the unit was found in Palghar, Maharashtra with 90 percent burns on the morning of 5th February. He was brought to INHS Asvini and declared dead on arrival”, Navy issued a statement.

Missing complaint by the family: On 30 January, Dubey left his house to join duty in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. According to his family members, they had last spoken to him when he was at Hyderabad airport. When he did not join duty and his phones were switched off, his family had lodged a missing persons’ report with Chainpur police station. Police said that his phones’ last location was Chennai.

 Was to get married in April: According to family members, Dubey had recently gotten engaged and was supposed to get married in April.