BENGALURU: A 32-year-old roadside tea vendor is cursing his luck for having won Rs 25 lakh at a casino in Goa. He had a dream of visiting a casino at least once in his life to try his luck. He took all of his Rs 4 lakh savings to the casino and won more than six times that amount. All the money he won was credited to his account by the casino management.
A happy man, TM Tilak Manikanta returned to Bengaluru. But his happiness was short-lived.When the news of his new-found wealth spread in his residential locality, 6th Main, Thyagarajanagar, a group of men known to him allegedly kidnapped him and transferred Rs 15 lakh to their accounts using Manikanta’s phone.
Later, they returned his mobile phone and released him on the city’s outskirts with a threat of dire consequences if he complained to the police.His ordeal lasted between 11 am on August 5 and 8 am on August 6. Despite the threat, Manikanta filed a complaint with the police that very evening around 5.10 pm.Manikanta went to Goa on July 30 with his friends and visited Majestic Pride Casino on the banks of the Mandovi river near the district and sessions court complex at Panaji.
After winning Rs 25 lakh, he returned to Bengaluru with his friends on August 4.The next morning, while standing in front of a bakery at Hanumanthanagar, a group of men came in a car and forcibly took him to an isolated place near Jnanabharathi campus off Mysuru Road and then to a resort in Nelamangala, where he was confined to a room. They allegedly beat him up with sticks and threatened to kill him if he did not give them Rs 10 lakh.
They then allegedly snatched his mobile phone and made online transfer of Rs 15 lakh to their accounts.
A police officer told The New Indian Express, “We have details of the accused, who have been identified as Karthik, Pandu, Eshwar and Nischal. The statements of the victim have been recorded.”