BENGALURU: The abduction of two men for a ransom of Rs 10 lakh in Marathahalli allegedly turned out to be an act of retaliation for the sexual assault of a 21-year-old woman. The police arrested 11 people, including the woman, in connection with the kidnapping case on Wednesday. The investigation revealed that the woman was allegedly sexually assaulted on October 25.
According to the police, B Ramana of Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh filed a complaint stating that his son B Mahendra, 23, and his friend Tarun, 23, both software engineers, were allegedly kidnapped from Marathahalli between 3 am and 6 am on Wednesday. The kidnappers allegedly demanded a ransom of Rs 10 lakh.
Following the complaint, the police analysed CCTV footage and other technical evidence and traced the engineers to Nagarabhavi within six hours of kidnapping.
During interrogation, the woman revealed that Tarun, Mahendra and Marripati Manjunath, the third accused in the case, lived in the same house. Her boyfriend Galeti Raj Kumar had called his friend Manjunath and told him that he was bringing his girlfriend to his two-bedroom house. Manjunath, who had gone to his native place, however, informed his roommates about the couple’s arrival.
The couple, who arrived there, lived in one room on the night of October 25. Mahendra and Tarun allegedly barged in and locked Raj Kumar inside the room. They took the woman to another room, where Mahendra allegedly raped her. The couple initially did not disclose this incident, the police said.
After the alleged assault, the woman shared her ordeal with her friends, who allegedly planned to kidnap Mahendra and Tarun in retaliation. The accused arrived on five two-wheelers, abducted Mahendra and Tarun and demanded ransom, the police said.
Based on the woman’s complaint, Marathahalli police registered a separate case of sexual assault against Mahendra and Tarun. Both were questioned.
Those arrested in the kidnap case have been identified as Galeti Raj Kumar, 24, the 21-year-old woman, Marripati Manjunath, 23, Chinigepalli Lokanath, 22, Bandlapalli Suhail, 22, Gangareddygarı Narendra Reddy, 22, Shiva Subramanyam, 24, Saleem Pasha, 30, Nayeem Pasha, 31, Shabaz, 26, and Gali Ramesh, 20. The accused were produced before a court which remanded them in police custody for further investigation.
