BENGALURU: The Hulimavu police have arrested eight men who allegedly kidnapped a couple and a car driver and robbed them of Rs 1.1 crore in cash. The incident took place near Akshaya Park on Saturday evening. The police suspect that the cash may have been linked to a hawala transaction.
The accused are Narasimha (34), car driver, Jeevan (27), gym trainer, Venkat Raj (28), against whom a murder case is under trial, Kishore (30), who also faces two cases including a murder, Chandra (32), an autorickshaw driver, Ravi Kiran (33), and Kumar N (36), both security guards, and Naman (18), a primary school dropout. All are residents of south east Bengaluru and Bengaluru Rural district.
The complainant, Hemanth (32), a car driver, said that his uncle, Mohan, an arecanut trader from Tumakuru, had asked him to collect money from one Mota Ram alias Ramesh, a real estate broker, and his wife Lakshmidevi, residents of Akshaya Layout who hail from Rajasthan. The couple had Rs 1.1 crore cash in two bags. According to the police, Hemanth and the couple were at Akshaya Park around 6 pm on Saturday.
Finding their behaviour suspicious, Narasimha and Jeevan approached the car, tried to open the doors, and filmed the occupants claiming to be police. When the couple questioned them, the duo allegedly assaulted them and attempted to snatch their bags. Though the victims managed to escape in their car, the accused chased them on bikes and rammed into the car near a vacant spot. Soon, four other accused joined in. The victims were taken to a shed, where the accused learnt that there was a huge sum of cash in the bags. Later, they snatched the victims’ mobile phones, and threatened that they would be released only if they paid Rs 50 lakh, the police said.
The police further added that, Hemanth got his phone from the abductors and called a friend seeking money, but when the friend refused, he contacted his uncle Mohan. The accused allegedly held the trio for nearly two hours before robbing them of Rs 1.1 crore.
Mohan alerted the police, and within 15 minutes, the Hulimavu inspector and his team, who were engaged in area domination, rushed to the spot, arrested the accused, and recovered the cash, the police said, adding that based on the mobile location they were traced.
A senior police officer said the victims have been asked to provide documents related to the cash. It is suspected that the money was part of a hawala transaction. The accused have been remanded in judicial custody.