'Kidnapped' ZP candidate tells a story!

The family of L Somanna, a Janata Dal (Secular) candidate from Biligere constituency in Varuna hobli for elections to Zilla Panchayat on December 31, panicked when he did not return home after a visit to a temple on Tuesday.

In a complaint to the Nazarbad police, Somanna’s wife Gangamma expressed her fears that her husband who had been receiving threat calls over the last week, had been kidnapped.

She stated that a sinister-looking stranger had accosted her husband while he was returning from the temple for ‘dhanurmasa puja’the previous day.

Even as the cops were tracing the whereabouts of Somanna, he contacted them over phone from Yelandur.

In his statement to the police here, Somanna claimed that he was forced into a waiting car by a man when he was on his way to the temple.

Four men, who were in the car, didn’t utter even a single word, but tied his hands with a rope. As the car was already congested with three in the backseat, Somanna had to sit on the lap of one of the men, and they drove the vehicle non-stop for six hours till 1.45 pm.

Apprehending problems at the checkpost on B R Hills Road, the kidnappers pushed him out, and drove off. Somanna later walked up to the cops at the checkpost and narrated his ordeal. They later informed Yelandur police, who escorted Somanna to the city.
However, there are many loose ends in Somanna’s story, according to the cops investigating the case.

Initially, Somanna had alleged that he was robbed of Rs 45,000 in cash and also a gold valuable he was wearing, only to backtrack within minutes. Also, after claiming that he was assaulted by the kidnappers, Somanna refused to undergo a medical test.
When he insisted that he had been assaulted, the police persuaded him to undergo a medical test which did not substantiate his claim.

A case of kidnap and assault has been registered and investigations are on.