Female actor among 11 arrested for kidnapping, assaulting film director in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: The Adugodi police have arrested a gang of 11 persons, including a female actor, for allegedly kidnapping a budding film director, brutally assaulting him with cricket stumps and hockey sticks, and robbing him of gold ornaments and cash.

The arrested have been identified as Ashirvad alias Ashi (26), Lakshminarayana (36), Sujan V (21), Charan S (26), Arsalan (20), Mohammed Arif (31), Druva J ((26), Sanjay N (24), Shahid Ahmed (21), Riyan alias Babu (20), and Aishwarya (30). Some of the accused run their own businesses and others are students in private colleges.

A senior police officer said that the kidnapping and attack took place on February 9 and a 31-year-old victim, a native of Tamil Nadu, had sustained multiple injuries on his hands and legs. Based on his complaint, a case of kidnapping and robbery was registered at Adugodi police station on February 11.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the complainant had directed a film which is yet to be released. A dispute rose between Ashirvad and Lakshminarayana who had invested money in the film over financial matters. About two months ago, the director had shifted from Bengaluru to Mumbai. During this period, he informed actor Aishwarya, residing in Indiranagar that he was planning to sell his car in Bengaluru.

Ashirvad came to know about this through the actress and offered to help him sell the vehicle. On February 9, they called him to the city and he arrived. The gang kidnapped him in a car and took him to a house in Byadarahalli where he was brutally assaulted. They robbed the gold ornaments he was wearing and Rs 30,000 in cash, the police officer said.

Later, the accused took him in a car to Mandaragiri Hill in Tumakuru, where two more persons joined them and again assaulted him and threatened him with dire consequences and not to reveal the incident to police or any person. The accused later demanded Rs 5 lakh from the victim before admitting him to a hospital and escaped.

Adugodi police were alerted about the incident and he then filed a case after narrating the incident. Police swung into action and secured 11 accused, including Aishwarya who allegedly played a key role in luring the victim to Bengaluru. Six mobile phones that were used to commit the offence, gold ornaments and a car were seized from the gang. They were later handed over to judicial custody after interrogation. Further investigations are on.