The Mahalakshmi Layout police on Saturday arrested five men who allegedly kidnapped a civil engineer’s son while conducting a “raid” at his residence in Mahalakshmi Layout 2nd Stage by pretending to be police officers. The incident took place on New Year’s Eve. They seized valuables, and took the victim’s son, a PU student, along with them claiming that he was needed for questioning. Two of the accused are history-sheeters while the third is a family relative, said the police.
After leaving with the teenager, they called his father, S. Naik, demanding ₹20 lakh as ransom. “However, fearing that they would get caught, they let the boy go. He returned to his house a few hours later,” said the police.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) said one of the accused, who is related to the victim, hatched the plan to get money for his business venture. They stole 500 gm of gold jewelry and ₹19 lakh in cash.
The accused — all in their 20s — have been identified as Balakrishna and Chethan Kumar, both history-sheeters in Bagalagunte and Yelahanka police station limits, and their associates Punith, Prithvi, and Rohan. “Rohan is the son of the civil engineer’s brother-in-law. He had approached him earlier asking for money to start his business. But Naik refused, saying he needed the money for his children’s higher education.
Though Rohan was not present when the gang raided the house, he visited Naik and sympathised with him. He initially convinced Naik not to alert the police immediately.
All five accused have been booked for robbery, kidnapping, and impersonation and efforts are on to track down one more person who is on the run. The police recovered ₹16 lakh worth of gold items, ₹10.3 lakh in cash, and two bikes from them.
