The director and owner of Alpha Metals, a company that manufactures parts of heavy mixers, was kidnapped by four people in Palghar on Thursday afternoon. Sources said 39-year-old Arif Shaikh was on the way to his factory in Palghar. The police are trying to find a business rival whom Shaikh's family suspects is involved.

Kidnapped outside his factory

"Shaikh visits his factory every day and travels either by local train or his car. He lives in Mira Road with his wife, children and mother. His father is a homoeopath in Hyderabad. On Thursday around 1.30 pm he alighted from a local train at Palghar and hired an autorickshaw to reach his factory," Mohammad Issak Manjra, Shaikh's brother-in-law, told mid-day.