Vinod M Jain
The Bagaluru police have arrested a gang of five for abducting a 30-year-old cab driver along with his friend, stripped, brutally assaulted and robbed over a dispute related to a girl on Friday .
According to the complaint filed by Mohammad Rafiq (30),a native of Kerala working as an Uber driver and staying at a lodge in Maruthi Nagar and driving a rented cab for a private company, said his friend Deepak had called him to the airport around 11 pm.
After picking him up from the airport at around 1 am, Rafiq received a phone call from an unidentified man asking him to come to a particular location.
As they proceeded towards Bengaluru city,a car intercepted their vehicle near Bagalur.
Around five to six men allegedly dragged Rafiq out of the cab,assaulted him with sticks and pipes,and forcibly bundled him into their vehicle.
The gang allegedly robbed Rafiq’s mobile phone and Rs.21,000 cash before taking him to an isolated area.
The accused later summoned another man identified as Jabir to the spot and allegedly assaulted him as well.
The victims were reportedly stripped,beaten with rods and pipes,and threatened by the attackers.
The ordeal continued for several hours before the victims managed to alert police through the emergency helpline.Police traced the location and rescued the victims around 5 am.
Jabir sustained injuries after being attacked with a sharp weapon and was shifted to Yelahanka Government Hospital for treatment.
The accused allegedly escaped with two mobile phones and cash belonging to the victims.
Based on the complaint the police track down the accused identified as Afan, Shahid,Arfath,Mohsin and Ali.Police said the main accused,Adnan and Afridi,are absconding and a search has been launched to trace them.
According to police sources,Rafiq was previously in a relationship with a woman,but the couple had broken up nearly a year ago due to personal reasons.
Later, the woman reportedly got into a relationship with Adnan and the two had decided to get married in the coming days.
However,as the wedding approached,Rafiq allegedly tried to contact the woman again.Enraged over this,the accused allegedly kidnapped Rafiq and assaulted him.
