BENGALURU: Sleuths of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) have arrested five men for allegedly kidnapping a 25-year-old gym trainer by posing as CCB officers, extorting Rs 40,000 from him, and later threatening to implicate him in a fabricated drug case unless he paid Rs 5 lakh.
The arrested accused have been identified as Triven Kumar alias Tirumala, Ranjith Rao, Namith, Prem Sai, and Shanth Kumar. Three other accused in the case are absconding.
According to police, the incident took place on June 19 when the victim, Mithul Kandur, a resident of JP Nagar, boarded an autorickshaw near the City Institute in Shankarpuram at around 5.30 pm. Six men allegedly intercepted the auto, identified themselves as CCB officers, forced him into an SUV, and accused him of transporting ganja.
The accused allegedly seized his mobile phone and bag, planted LSD strips inside a pouch, and photographed the. They drove him to the JP Nagar police station, where two of the accused briefly entered the premises before returning and telling the victim that the officers were busy.
They drove the victim around the city for nearly four hours before releasing him. Before letting him go, they allegedly demanded Rs 1.8 lakh to avoid registering a case against him. After he told them he had only Rs 40,000, they took the money and released him. However, the following day, they allegedly called him again and demanded Rs 5 lakh, threatening to implicate him in a drug case if he failed to pay. Efforts are on to track down the other accused.