Bengaluru: In a commendable operation, the Bengaluru City Police has succeeded in apprehending a group of eight individuals accused of abducting and extorting money from a tea vendor who had recently won a substantial Rs. 25 Lakh at a casino in Goa. The Hanumanta Nagar Police tracked down and arrested the suspects in Shirdi, Maharashtra, as they attempted to evade capture by fleeing Bengaluru upon discovering that law enforcement was on their trail.
The arrested individuals, identified as Karthik, Rahul, Manoj Kumar, Eshwar, Ram Kumar, Mohan, Nischal Gowda, and Varun, had hatched a plan to escape to Goa from Bengaluru following their act of extorting money from tea vendor Tilak M. Manikanta. This group had managed to elude authorities by traversing through Mumbai before seeking sanctuary in Shirdi.
Interestingly, two of the accused, known as Karthik AKA Psycho and Rahul AKA Pandu, were no strangers to the police, having already been listed as rowdy sheeters at the Banashankari and V. V. Puram Police Stations, respectively.
The victim, Manikanta, a roadside tea seller from Bengaluru, experienced both fortune and misfortune. His gambling triumph at a Goa casino awarded him an impressive Rs. 25 Lakh. However, upon returning home, Manikanta’s luck took a grim turn. His close associates, privy to his windfall, abducted him and coerced him into transferring a significant chunk of his winnings – a staggering Rs. 15 Lakh – into their accounts.
A frequent visitor to Goa’s casinos, Manikanta embarked on a trip on July 30, accompanied by a friend and carrying Rs. 4 lakh in cash. His substantial win led to Rs. 25 lakh being discreetly deposited in his bank account, a detail he chose to keep under wraps.
Regrettably, Manikanta’s joyous moment inadvertently surfaced when he posted a WhatsApp status update upon his return to Bengaluru. Exploiting this revelation, his so-called friends, in collaboration with accomplices, abducted him on August 5 and coerced him into parting with the aforementioned sum.
Taking swift action, Manikanta filed a formal complaint at the Hanumanthanagar police station on August 6, prompting an immediate response from law enforcement. Consequently, all eight culprits were apprehended, and a sum of Rs. 10 Lakh was successfully recovered from their possession.
As per the complaint, the perpetrators forcibly escorted Manikanta to a secluded spot near Bengaluru University, compelling him to initiate an online funds transfer of Rs. 15 Lakh into their accounts.
Authorities have registered a case against the accused individuals, charging them with offenses including kidnapping, extortion, criminal intimidation, and other pertinent sections.