BENGALURU: Jnanabharathi police on Sunday arrested the fifth suspect in the kidnap and murder case of an Income Tax officer’s son Sharath.The arrested is Shanthkumar. Sharath was abducted by his schoolmate Vishal and four of his associates on September 12. They had demanded `50 lakh as ransom. Sharath was strangled to death the gang inside a car and the body was thrown in a lake near Romohalli on the city outskirts. On Friday, a special team arrested Vishal, Vinod Kumar, Karan Pai and Vinay Prasad while Shanthkumar was abscon ding.
Shanthkumar, a cab driver by profession, was one of the prime accused in the case. Shanthkumar was in financial crisis and had hatched a plot with Vishal and Vinay to kidnap a person from a well-to-do family. Vishal had suggested the name of his schoolmate Sharath (19), who was studying diploma in mechanical engineering in a private college near Hesaraghatta Main Road. Police said that Shanthkumar is the brother-in-law of Vishal’s girlfriend.A senior police officer said Shanthkumar was nabbed in Majestic on Sunday evening. He was planning to leave the city for Mangaluru. He had left his cab near Bidadi and police had towed the vehicle on Monday.