An armed gang of four abducted a 43-year-old scrap dealer three days after he handed over 23 bundles of fake United State of American dollars (USD) that one of his ragpicker-employee had found on the railway track, to the police on November 5. He was allegedly taken to different locations and tortured for several hours with the abductors demanding that he hand over the money he had found. After realising that the money is with the police, the accused dumped him with a warning not to complain to the police.
The armed gang came in a car to the victim’s colony in Chiranjeevi Layout on November 7 night. Touhidul Islam alias Bappa stayed alone in his juggi (hutment) while his family stays in West Bengal. While two men stood guard outside, two others barged in and allegedlly assaulted Bappa before ransacking his room searching for the money.
Hearing the commotion, a few ragpickers living nearby came to his rescue. Initially, they thought it was a prank, but when one of them noticed a man holding a gun, they realised that Bappa was in deep trouble. The gang told the ragpickers to stay away before taking Bappa in a car.
The ragpickers called city-based social activist Kaleemullah R. who alerted the police. Amruthahalli and Hebbal police rushed to the spot. Even as the police probe was under way, Bappa was released by his abductors, and came home. Police are now gathering CCTV footage to identify the abductors.
Background to abduction
A ragpicker employed by Bappa had found a plastic bag containing chemical-laced 23 bundles of USD bills of $100 denomination dumped on the railway track near Hebbal. He handed over the currency to Bappa who called Kaleemullah and narrated the details. Kaleemullah handed over the currency notes to the commissioner of police B. Dayananda who ordered a probe by Hebbal police. The currency notes were handed over to the Reserve Bank of India.
A police officer said, “It looks like the currency bills are fake, and are part of the black dollar scam.”
Police suspect that the gang behind the scam managed to track down Bappa and abducted him to recover the fake currency. The police are not ruling the possibility of some police teams from other States or Central agencies picking up Bappa for questioning in connection with immigration issue.
Recalling his ordeal, Bappa told The Hindu that the abductors were speaking in Kannada and Hindi. They took his laptop, a bag containing around ₹50,000 in cash, and three phones. “They blindfolded me and took me to an apartment. They tortured me asking about the money. They later took me in a SUV, drove around, and beat me up demanding to know about the money. They checked my phones to confirm that the money is with the police. They warned me not to inform the police. They warned that since they now know me, they would come back after me even if they were arrested,” he said.
On November 8 morning, he was pushed out on the road while the vehicle sped away. After walking for a few metres, he boarded an autorickshaw and reached home..
The ragpickers in the colony are gripped by fear as they now fear for their lives.
