The Kadugodi police have arrested an inter-State fraudster who allegedly kidnapped a hotel employee, kept him prisoner for a fortnight at his flat in Bengaluru, and extorted ₹48 lakh from his family in Haveri.
Based on a complaint filed by the victim’s family, the Kadugodi police arrested the accused, Swaroop Shetty, from a prestigious apartment on ITPL road on Sunday.
According to the police, Shetty met Arshad at Radisson Blu where he worked. “‘The accused was a regular customer and befriended the victim. During one of their conversations, Arshad shared details of his financial problems as he had taken a huge loan. Shetty offered to help him out,” said a police officer.
He took Arshad to his apartment on the pretext of helping him and tortured him before calling his family in Haveri demanding money. According to the police, Shetty would get high on alcohol and drugs, and torture Arshad. “He recorded it on his mobile phone,” the officer added.
He tortured Arshad to get information about his family members and relatives and used that information to blackmail them by posing as a police officer. “Over many days and several calls, he extorted ₹48 lakh from the victim’s family through online transfers,” said the officer.
After around 15 days, Arshad was allowed to leave the flat. Later, his uncle Mohammed Rafi filed a complaint with the police, who tracked down Shetty and arrested him.
Investigations so far have revealed that the accused had cheated several people in Pune posing as the CEO of an MNC. The police are investigating further to trace Shetty’s associates identified as Kiran B., Subina, and Sandeep Rai who were part of the kidnap attempt.
Shetty has been charged with kidnap and extortion, assault, criminal intimidation, and impersonation.
