Kerala man abducted for Rs 1 lakh ransom, brutally assaulted with knives & metal rods

Bengaluru: A Kerala man was allegedly abducted by a five-member gang from Electronics City and brutally assaulted for a ransom of Rs 1 lakh, police said.

The 28-year-old victim, a native of Palakkad, had been working in Qatar before moving to Bengaluru a few months ago. He had rented a house in Neeladri Nagar in Electronics City.

On March 25, the gang contacted him on the pretext of settling a dispute involving his friend, Karthik. Trusting them, he agreed to meet them, but was instead forcibly taken away.

The suspects — identified as Danish, Alan, Anas, and two women, Anukrishna and Jinsha — confined him in a house where they assaulted him with knives, a shaving razor and metal rods, inflicting multiple injuries to his neck, face, shoulders, back and head, according to the FIR.

The gang also forced the victim to record videos of the assault and send them to his friends to pressure them into arranging the ransom. They threatened to kill him if the Rs 1 lakh demand was not met, the FIR stated.

When the victim’s friends sought time to arrange the money, the accused allegedly continued the assault. In an apparent attempt to avoid identification, they later changed his clothes and shifted him to another location.

After being held for several hours, the victim managed to escape when he found an opportunity and alerted passersby. Police later rescued him.

He was initially treated at a nearby hospital and later shifted to Coimbatore for advanced treatment due to the severity of his injuries. After partially recovering, he lodged a formal complaint on March 30.

Electronics City police have registered a case of abduction, attempt to murder, extortion and criminal intimidation, and said efforts are on to trace the accused.

Growing trend 

Police officials noted that similar crimes have been reported in the area in recent months, raising concerns over a growing trend of targeted abductions for ransom.

In February, a gang abducted a 28-year-old spa owner and demanded Rs 2 lakh to settle gambling-related dues. The victim was assaulted and forced to call his associate for ransom. Acting on a tip-off, police laid a trap and arrested one of the suspects when he arrived to collect the money, leading to the victim’s rescue and the arrest of the remaining accused.

In another incident in January, Hebbagodi police arrested three people for abducting a goods vehicle driver in H Hosahalli village. The accused allegedly assaulted him with a hockey stick, robbed him of Rs 1,500, and demanded an additional Rs 50,000, threatening to kill him.

A senior police officer from the Electronics City sub-division said that with repeated cases of abduction and extortion being reported, especially in areas bordering Tamil Nadu, surveillance and patrolling have been intensified to curb such organised criminal activity.