Bengaluru: The Sampigehalli police, on Saturday, arrested a gang of four that had allegedly kidnapped a 70-year-old financier and former gram panchayat member from Yelahanka and extorted a ransom of Rs. 60 lakh from his son.
The police have identified the accused as Kantharaj Gowda, 30; and his associates Renuka Prasad, 41; Arshiya, 32; and Pradeep, 27. It is said Arshiya, one of the accused persons, is a JD(S) women wing president who was suspended for some reasons.
The police said the accused kidnapped Mallikarjunappa on Friday at a gunpoint at Maruthinagar. They used his mobile phone to call his son Ravikumar to demand Rs. 100 crore for his safe return. “Ravikumar managed to convince the gang that he did not have that much money and agreed to pay Rs. 60 lakh,” the police said.
He followed instructions and was reunited with his father after he paid the men Rs. 60 lakh in cash at a designated spot. The father and son then filed a police complaint.
“The accused are in real estate business and wanted to make quick money,” said the police.
