The car was given to Jaiswal in January 2009.

A frustrated Pandey and his friends whisked away Jaiswal in their car, beat him up and asked him to pay half the amount they had given him as compensation.

Last week, Pandey arrived at Jaiswal’s makeshift garage in Bhandup, hoping to take his car back. The mechanic had promised to repair the vehicle within a month for Rs 50,000 but had failed to do so even after six months.

“Within a couple of months after handing over the SUV, Pandey paid the entire sum in installments to Jaiswal. Despite this, Jaiswal kept delaying the work. Pandey visited Jaiswal’s garage several times only to hear that some work was left. Last Tuesday, Jaiswal had promised to hand over the SUV. Pandey went to the garage with his friends Nitin Thorat (28), Dinesh Rai (36) and Datta Parab (23). However, Jaiswal told them that some repairs were pending,” said Police Sub-Inspector Santosh Gaikwad.

Determined to get the SUV the same day, the four men accompanied Jaiswal to another workshop where the car’s air-conditioner was being repaired.

“The steering and the chassis were lower than normal and it was difficult to shut the bonnet. Pandey and his friends accused Jaiswal of cheating. Meanwhile, on Jaiswal’s orders, another mechanic forcibly shut the bonnet. This further angered Pandey and his friends. They forced Jaiswal to sit in Thorat’s car and sped away to Airoli where all the four abused and thrashed him. They also asked Jaiswal to give back Rs 20,000-25,000 for the delay and the haphazard repairs,” said Gaikwad.

At Airoli, the group asked him to disembark from the car, gave him the autorickshaw fare.

The police control room received a call about a kidnap.

“The same night we imposed a nakabandi on the roads. Jaiswal arrived at the police station the same night and we recorded his statement. He remembered the number of the SUV and the make of the car. We kept a watch in the area near Jaiswal’s garage and spotted the car at a building compound. We nabbed Thorat and Rai when they tried to flee,” said Gaikwad.

Pandey and his friends are presently in judicial custody.