Udupi police announce Rs 50,000 reward for info about 2 prime accused in kidnapping case booked under KCOCA

Udupi: The Udupi district police have announced a reward of Rs 50,000 to those who give information about Manoj Kodikere and Chetan Padil, who have been booked under the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act (KCOCA) in connection with a kidnapping case.

Udupi SP Hariram Shankar said that identities of the informers will be kept confidential. Public with any information about the accused, can contact Kundapur sub division DySP HD Kulkarni, on 9480805422.
The cash reward has been announced on prime accused Manoj Kodikere (42), from Jokatte and Chetan Padil alias Chetan Kulal ( 38) from Bantwal.

There are over 20 cases registered against Manoj while Chetan Padil faces 13 cases across Mangaluru city and Udupi district.
It may be recalled that the Kota police had arrested seven persons in connection with kidnap for ransom case and invoked the stringent KCOCA Act after uncovering an organised crime network behind the incident. However, two prime accused in connection with the case are still at large.

In a complaint, Mohan Das Shetty of Siddapura village said that his son Tejas was allegedly kidnapped in Sasthan on November 19, 2025. Tejas friend Prajwal had informed the complainant over a phone call that unknown persons had abducted Tejas from the roadside. When the complainant rushed to the spot, he found his son’s car parked there, with the key lying beneath the vehicle. Prajwal had informed Shetty that he had received a call from Tejas WhatsApp number, during which Tejas said that two to three unidentified persons had kidnapped him on the direction of Manoj Kodikere.

Later, Prajwal received another call from an unidentified person using the WhatsApp number of Tejas demanding Rs 50 lakh for his release and threatening to kill him if the ransom was not paid.

A case was registered at Kota Police Station under relevant sections of the BNS.

During the investigation, it was revealed that the accused had acted in an organised manner. Accordingly, the police had invoked KCOCA against them. The investigation led by DySP H D Kulkarni of Kundapur Sub-Division, resulted in the arrest of seven persons— Devi Prasad Shetty alias Dikshit (33), from Katipalla, Sujith (27) from Hiriyadka, Sudip (22), from Katipalla, Shrisha Anand Shetty alias Shrisha (35), from Katipalla, Mithun alias Mithun Kaikamba (20), from Katipalla, Suhas (31), from Kemannu, and Manoj V Kotian (34) from Kemannu. All the accused have been produced before the court and are remanded in judicial custody.