Pramesh S Jain
A 20-year-old college student who was kidnapped for ransom near a hostel in BTM Layout was rescued within five hours,with Madiwala police arresting four accused—his own college mates—in a swift operation.
The victim,a first-year Business Management student of Jain College,was staying in a hostel in BTM Layout along with his classmates.
DCP Southeast,Mohammad Sujeetha told reporters the incident occurred on the night of April 11,when information was received on the Namma 112 emergency helpline about a student being forcibly taken away in a car.
Acting on the alert,Madiwala police registered a case and launched an immediate probe.
A team led by Inspector,Mohammed M.A.used technical surveillance and field tracking to trace the vehicle and rescue the victim within five hours.
The arrested accused have been identified as Nikunj, Shourya Agarwal,Syed Bilal and Aditya Bhounsle.
While one of them is a classmate of the victim,two are his seniors,and Aditya is a former student currently working as a freelance digital marketer.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused allegedly abducted Rishab and took him to Bilal’s house, where he was confined and allegedly assaulted.They forced him to call his friends and arrange Rs.50,000 as ransom through online payment.
Sujeetha further said the accused have claimed that the act was an attempt to recover money they had earlier lent to the victim.However, investigators suspect a premeditated plan driven by financial motives.
Further probe has also indicated that the group may be habitual offenders and had earlier abducted a student from Andhra Pradesh and extorted Rs.40,000.
Notably,Bilal’s family was away attending a function at the time of the incident,which the accused allegedly used as an opportunity to confine the victim at the house.The car used in the crime was arranged by Nikunj.
Finally Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh Joint CP East Ramesh Banoth appreciated and said the operation was carried out under the supervision of DCP (Southeast Division) Mohammed Sujeeth M.S,IPS, and under the leadership of ACP,Vasudev V.K and Madiwala police Inspector Mohammad MA and his team who rescued the student safely in record time.
All four accused have been taken into custody, and police are verifying their criminal background.Further investigation is underway to uncover the full extent of their activities and their possible involvement in similar cases she added.
