Drug dealers kidnap NRI customer, extort Rs 1.3 lakh

Bengaluru: An NRI from Australia was allegedly abducted by a six-member group and assaulted to fork out Rs 1.3 lakh. Bommanahalli police arrested the suspects within a day. 

Initial police investigations revealed that the NRI had met the suspects to buy ganja on February 20. The kidnappers held him, presuming he had a lot of money. 

The NRI met them near a private school on Bommanahalli Road and was taken to a secluded place nearby. The miscreants assaulted him and forced him to pay more money. Fearing consequences, he paid Rs 98,000 in
two instalments. 

He then called his brother and asked him to pay Rs 40,000 more as the suspects kept beating him. Sensing some trouble, the NRI’s brother who resides in JP Nagar traced the car’s GPS and reached the location, forcing the suspects to flee. 

Police acted on technical evidence and nabbed the miscreants within a day of receiving the complaint. 

The suspects have been identified as Monish alias Manu, Lokesh alias Loki, Kishor Shiva, Athi alias Rooth, Dilip Kumar, and Satish alias Chandru – all aged between 21 and 27 – originally from Tamil Nadu and residing in southern Bengaluru. 

The NRI had bought ganja from one of the suspects a few times earlier. Learning that he was from Australia, the peddler came with his associates and assaulted him to make a quick buck, presuming he would refrain from filing a complaint. 

A police officer close to the investigation told DH that the NRI had befriended Monish through a dating app a few months ago and bought ganja from him a couple of times. “The NRI had told Monish he had returned from Australia. So Monish presumed he was a moneybag,” said the officer. 

Monish told police he bought ganja from a man called Sathyanarayan Mahato, 25, who is originally from Bihar and stays in Suddaguntepalya in southeastern Bengaluru. 

Police acted on his leads and arrested Mahato on February 21. He is suspected to have sold ganja to students because the area where he lived is populated by college students. Police have seized 400 grams of ganja worth Rs 24,000 from Mahato and have taken up a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.