Five armed men kidnapped three management students from a restaurant in MSR Nagar on Thursday around 8 p.m. The students alleged that they were taken to a house and tortured for several hours while the kidnappers demanded a ransom of ₹5 lakh.
The kidnappers released two of the victims later that night after being convinced that they hail from poor families. The kidnappers forced the third student, who is 20 years old, to call up a cousin based in Bengaluru for the ransom. The cousin alerted the Sadashiva Nagar police.
Special teams were set up late Thursday night and the police accompanied the boy’s cousin to a predetermined spot chosen by the kidnappers on Outer Ring Road near Mathikere. However, before the police could nab them, they fled leaving the third victim behind.
The youth told the police that the kidnappers had barged into the restaurant while they were eating dinner, snatched their wallets and assaulted them. They allegedly forced the students out of the restaurant and into a waiting car.
This was confirmed by the other two students.
The kidnappers allegedly assaulted the boys with clubs. After they released two of their victims, they slashed the third with a knife and forced him to call his cousin for the ransom.
He was taken to hospital for treatment and later filed a complaint. “He told us that the kidnappers were local residents who targeted students from rich families. We have not received any such complaint in the past, but are investigating his statement,” said a police officer.
Three of the kidnappers have been identified as Nousheen, Deepu and Manish.
Based on the information, the police on Friday booked a case against the accused under several sections of the IPC, including attempt to murder (307) , extortion ( 384) and criminal intimidation (506).
