Two arrested in Bengaluru for kidnapping man booked for fraud in Telangana

Bengaluru: The Halasuru police in eastern Bengaluru have arrested two members of a gang allegedly responsible for kidnapping a man accused of fraud in Telangana, officials said on Sunday.

The arrested Telangana natives, Shivakrishna and Joy Steven, were caught “watching a kidnapped man who was tied and held against his own will in a Keesaragutta resort".

Police said six to eight people kidnapped Azmeera Raju, 28, on June 6 near the Trinity metro station on MG Road. Raju, who hails from Telangana, stayed in Hotel DBR in Halasuru, which, the police said, cost Rs 60,000 a month.

Sathvik, the complainant and the hotel’s receptionist who knew Raju, took him out for dinner on his motorcycle at 1.15 am. After finding no eateries open, they decided to return, but noticed a black Mahindra Scorpio with two occupants following them.

Raju confronted the men on pursuit near the metro station, but some more men seated in a car parked close by caught him. Sathvik managed to escape. The next morning, Sathvik filed a complaint with the Halasuru police station.

Suspects tracked 

The Halasuru police registered a case under IPC sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping) and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object). Their investigations led them to Telangana.

Three days after the case was registered, a police team traced Raju to the Keesaragutta resort in Telangana.

"The two arrested suspects were caught as they were there watching him,” an investigator told DH. “We suspect the involvement of eight to 10 others. So far, they have managed to evade.”

Police rescued a tied up and beaten Raju.  

It emerged during investigations that Raju had been arrested in a fraud case at the Central Crime Station (CCS) in Telangana. He arrived in Bengaluru six months ago after receiving bail in the case. He owed the kidnappers a large sum of money.

“The victim claims that he doesn’t owe the arrested suspects any money, but they claim otherwise,” an officer said. “However, we are only looking at the kidnapping angle.”