Two Men Arrested for Allegedly Kidnapping and Murdering 85-Year-Old Australian Man**

Police have arrested two men in connection with the alleged kidnapping and murder of an 85-year-old Australian man, following an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and death

Two men have been charged with the kidnapping and murder of 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian whose body was found on the outskirts of Sydney after disappearing from his home in North Ryde.

A 29-year-old man from Kenthurst and a 24-year-old man from Castle Hill were charged on Wednesday night with murder and taking/detaining in company with intent to ransom and occasion actual bodily harm, police said in a statement.

They were refused bail to appear in Blacktown local court on Thursday.

The men, who were previously known to police for “insignificant matters”, were arrested earlier on Wednesday at addresses in Kenthurst and Castle Hill where police said they had been living at their family homes.

A further search warrant was executed at a property in Lake Macquarie where it was believed one of the alleged kidnappers had travelled after the alleged offence.

However, police said “our work is not done” as the search continued to find “other people involved” in the alleged kidnapping and murder of the grandfather and widower.

Footage of the arrests showed half a dozen masked police from the Raptor squad arriving at the two homes where the men were arrested, and breaking in to execute search warrants.

Fronting the media on Wednesday afternoon, Det Acting Supt Andrew Marks said he believed the men had been part of a “joint criminal enterprise” with others to kidnap Baghsarian and reiterated he was taken in a case of mistaken identity.

“I suspect the intended target was going to be kidnapped where a ransom was going to be asked for,” he said, confirming media reports that the figure to be requested was $50m.

“We know that there’s others involved,” he said.

Marks said that during their searches detectives had seized “electronic devices, clothing and other items that will suggest a link to the kidnapping and murder of Mr Baghsarian”. That included two electronic devices at Lake Macquarie.