Abducted roadside vendor rescued in Laggere

The police rescued a roadside vendor from his abductors by raiding a house in Laggere on Friday.

The victim has been identified as Chowde Gowda, while his abductors are Kumar, Manjunath and Arase Gowda who have been arrested. Police said the act was committed over a financial dispute and clarified that Gowda was unharmed.

Gowda had been running a roadside eatery at Laggere and had moved to Singarajipura village in Channapatna taluk a few months ago. As Gowda had incurred losses in business, he had borrowed money from the suspects. However, on being unable to repay the loans, he left Bengaluru and moved to Channapatna. On gaining knowledge of the whereabouts of Gowda, the suspects accosted him and demanded the repayment. After he expressed helplessness in repaying the loans, they abducted him in a van, drove to Bengaluru and held him captive at Kumar’s house.  In lieu of the loan he had taken, the trio then forced Gowda to transfer a site that he owned in Laggere to their names.

Police said they have registered a case after Gowda’s family members lodged a complaint.