SMS helps rescue abducted techie

A text message sent by an abducted software engineer helped the police rescue him from his captors on Sunday.

Hrithvik Raj, 35, an employee with Tech Mahindra, was abducted by a gang of three on the night of June 20. According to police, Raj, a resident of Banashankari, used to travel by an auto driven by Dawood Khan. The latter had noticed Raj carrying huge sums of money and cheque books with him. He considered Raj to be a rich man and hatched a plan to abduct him for the money. Khan was falling short of Rs 10,000 for the advance he needed to pay to take a house on rent for himself.

Khan roped in Shoaib Khan and Syed Suhail, all residents of Kulumepalya in Amruthnagar, to execute his abduction plan. On the night of June 20, Raj went for a walk as usual after dinner. The three abducted him by threatening him with lethal  weapons and locked Raj in a house in Kammanahalli, police added.

Money withdrawn

The abductors withdrew money using Raj’s debit card and obtained his signature on a cheque.

They went to Jayanagar branch of Canara Bank and withdrew Rs 2.55 lakh from his account. Meanwhile, Raj managed to send a text message to his mother Renuka stating that he had been abducted and that money had been withdrawn from his bank account. Renuka immediately lodged a complaint.

The police rushed to the bank and verified the CCTV footages. They noticed three persons withdrawing money by tendering a cheque. The police also managed to trace the mobile tower from which the text message originated. The three were arrested after a raid on the house, police added.