Bengaluru cops say revenge cases causing rise in abduction of men

Twenty one cases of kidnapping of men were registered in the first three months of this year in Bengaluru alone.
For representational purposes (Express Illustrations)
For representational purposes (Express Illustrations)

BENGALURU: An increase in cases involving personal revenge and threats is among the key factors causing a steep rise in men falling victims to abduction, according to the city police. As many as 21 cases of abduction of adult men were registered till March 31 this year, as compared to 38 cases in the entire 2018, figures from the City Crime Records Bureau (CCRB) show.

This does not, however, mean that Bengaluru is unsafe, as all the cases involve ransom collection, the police said. “Some of these cases include rowdy elements, where along with extortion, we register them under kidnapping as well. Most of them are due to personal rivalries,” T Suneel Kumar, Police Commissioner, said. The police have been successful in ensuring the safe return of victims this year, officials said.

“Through body language and facial recognition, we are able to identify the abductors. Ransom collection, personal revenge and threats are the main reasons behind the crime,” K Ajay Kumar, Deputy

Commissioner of Police (Control Room), said, adding that the process of nabbing the perpetrators would be hastened after the installation of 5,000 CCTV cameras in the city. “As of now, we use cameras of ATMs or nearby shops,” he said.

The number of cases involving abduction of women reached seven till March-end. “Many of these cases concern elopement, and the family registers a case saying the girl was kidnapped,” DCP (Southeast) Isha Pant said. “We later find out that the elopement was consensual and if both are adults, we dispose the case,” she added, asserting that kidnapping cases are taken seriously.

Among the men abducted this year was a businessman who was kidnapped for the fourth time by his former employees. Earlier this month, the police arrested three people for allegedly kidnapping the startup owner as he was unable to pay their salaries.

Another case involved a plumber with a history of vehicle thefts. He was arrested with two of his associates last month in connection with the eight-hour abduction and robbery of a Chennai-based software engineer. The technology professional was abducted from Electronics City Phase 2 while he was waiting at a bus stand.

The culprits snatched his debit cards and forced him to reveal the PIN after threatening to kill him. The gangsters withdrew `45,000 from the victim’s account.

Another incident took place last month where four men boarded an Ola cab and abducted the driver before assaulting and robbing him. The unidentified assailants allegedly even video-called his wife and took screenshots after asking her to strip.

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