Gang kidnaps three youths for false job promise

Victims had taken Rs 1.5L from a man, promising his wife constable's post

Three jobless young men, who pocketed Rs 1.5 lakh from a man by promising his wife the job of a police constable, were kidnapped by his friend and 11 others who locked them up in a farmhouse and roughed them up real hard.

The man’s friend wanted the three youths—identified by the police as Rajavardhan, 24, from Attur Layout, Chandragiri, 22, from Judicial Layout, and Akash, 24, from Dodda Bettahalasur—to return the money as they had failed to keep the promise, the police said.

The crime unfolded like a scene from an action film. Some months ago, Rajavardhan met that man—police didn’t identify him—and learnt that his wife had taken a recruitment exam for the post of police constable. Rajavardhan bluffed him into believing that he and his two friends—Chandragiri and Akash—could get his wife the job as they knew some top police officers. But they wanted commission.

The man, who works as an assistant storekeeper at KSRTC, believed him and struck a deal for Rs 1.5 lakh. He then paid the money. But he didn’t hear from Rajavardhan thereafter. He then called him on his mobile phone but he didn’t respond. He then became suspicious and approached his friend Nagarjuna, the main suspect. Nagarjuna and his associates then began tracking the trio. They managed to trace Rajavardhan’s residential address.

They all demanded that Rajavardhan return the money but he sought a  few months’ time. They then made him call up Chandragiri and Akash and ask them to come to the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Yelahanka New Town. When the two men turned up there on Sunday evening, the suspects bundled them into a van and sped away. They were taken to Nagarjuna’s house in Attur Layout and roughed up real hard. His parents, however, raised an objection and asked him to take the men elsewhere.

The suspects took the trio to a farmhouse belonging to one Ramesh in Veerasagara. They locked them up and started beating them. On Monday morning too, the suspects assaulted the youths, gave them a mobile phone and asked them to call their friends to arrange for money.

“Chandragiri was clever enough to call up his uncle Venkatesh, a real estate agent, and narrate everything to him. But his uncle thought he was playing a prank. Chandragiri called him again and swore he was telling the truth. He also gave him the farmhouse’s address. Venkatesh then notified the police who raided the farmhouse on Monday and arrested nine people. They broke into the room and rescued the trio,” a police officer said.

Police identified other suspects as Harish, Manjunath, Lakshmikanth, Babu, Muthuraju, Manjunath, Ajay and Suresh Reddy. Three others are on the run.