Pramesh S Jain
The Electronics City Police on Wednesday arrested a gang of three men for abducting a spa owner and demanded a ransom of Rs.2 lakh to clear gambling debts incurred by one of the accused.
The arrested have been identified as Akshay (26),a BBA graduate working as a car driver,Manjunath alias Mantapa Manja (28),a BA graduate employed as a facility manager at an apartment complex in Gottigere; and Prajwal (28),a Class 10 pass-out working as a warehouse manager at Amazon.
All three are residents of and around Bengaluru and reportedly have prior criminal records.
Senior officer told reporters that Manjunath had allegedly misappropriated maintenance funds collected from residents of the apartment complex and lost the money through online gambling.
Police said Manjunath’s neighbour was a business partner of the victim,Ashith Kumar Jha (28),a native of Bihar who ran a spa in Akshayanagar.
Observing the neighbour’s affluent lifestyle,Manjunath allegedly assumed that kidnapping Jha would help him extort money to repay his debts.
The trio reportedly tracked the victim’s movements for three days before executing the plan.
On February 15 at around 9 pm,Jha was returning home with his shop manager,Manukumar,when the accused allegedly intercepted them near Bettadasanapura in a white car and deliberately rammed their two-wheeler.
The suspects then allegedly assaulted both men with weapons and forcibly abducted Jha,while Manukumar managed to escape and alert the police.
“The accused tied a cloth around Jha’s face and forced him into the car.Immediately after receiving the complaint,a special team was formed to trace the suspects,”a senior police officer said.
On Monday,Jha’s business partner,Prakash Mandal, received a call from Jha stating that Rs.2 lakh had to be paid for his release,failing which he would be harmed.
A second ransom call was made on Tuesday evening, instructing Mandal to drop the cash near a coconut plantation.
Based on the complaint,a team of police laid a trap at the designated spot and apprehended Akshay when he arrived to collect the ransom.His arrest led to the capture of the other two accused and the safe rescue of Jha near a petrol bunk on S Bingipura Road.
Investigators said the suspects were moving around the outskirts of the city with the victim in their car and had only about Rs.1,000 on them at the time of arrest.
The operation was conducted under the supervision of M Narayana,Deputy Commissioner of Police (Electronic City),with investigation led by ACP,KM Satish of Electronic City Sub-Division and Police Inspector Naveen GM of Electronics City Police Station.
Police have seized the car used in the crime,weapons, three mobile phones,and Rs 9,700 in cash from the accused.
