DCF abductors held

He was kidnapped on April 30 while he was travelling in a car to Davangere. Four unidentified persons had kidnapped him near Thoranakatte in the taluk and after receiving a ransom money of Rs 1.50 lakh, they had released Muttaiah.

The police have managed to arrest the four accused in just two days. They are Ramappa (27) from Somasamudra village near Bellary, Pampanna (22), Rudrappa (26) and driver Sridhar (26). The arrested were produced in the local court and later remanded to police custody till May 7.

Another accused Badri will be arrested in a day or two, said the police. Except driver Sridhar the rest of them are hamalis and daily wagers. According to the police Muttaih used to often travel to Davangere in former councillor Venkateshappa’s car and Sridhar always used to be the driver. He hatched a conspiracy along with his friends to kidnap Muttaiah for ransom, said the police. Inspector S M Shivakumar and sub inspector T S Nayak led the team and in a lightning operation were successful in nabbing the culprits.

Background

The incident took place when Muttaiah was travelling from Bellary to his native place in Davangere in his car, since the weekend was a closed government holiday. After completing his work on Friday, last week he left office at 7 pm in Bellary and nearing Toranagatte at around 9.20 pm when he encountered huge stones stacked on the road. The car driver, Sridhar, got down to remove the stones when the four accused attacked them.