BENGALURU: The Soladevanahalli police arrested nine people, including a 17-year-old girl, for allegedly kidnapping a youth, stripping him naked and torturing him by assaulting him with sticks.
The accused recorded a video of the assault and referred to the Renukaswamy murder case, in which actor Darshan had been arrested. The person recording the video, zooming in on two of his associates, can be heard, though jokingly, saying they are A1 (accused no 1) and A2 in the “Renukaswamy-like case” .
The gang assaulted the victim after he sent an obscene message to his former girlfriend, who recently broke up with him. The incident occurred at an isolated place in Aluru, on the outskirts of Bengaluru on June 30.
The accused have been identified as Shivashankar A, Yeshwanth Patel M, Hemanth, Salman Khan S, Rahul M, Tejas S, Rakesh R, and N Shashank Gowda. All are aged between 18 and 23. Except for Khan, who works as a lab technician, all are students.
The police said the victim, Kushal (18), who has completed his PU exam, was in a relationship with a minor girl, his classmate.
She recently broke up with him and is in a relationship with another boy. Enraged with this, Kushal allegedly started harassing her by sending lewd messages.
The girl informed her friend, who called Kushal and asked him to sort out the issue by talking. When Kushal turned up, the group of eight youth allegedly abducted him in a car and took him to an isolated place near Aluru in the Madanayakanahalli police limits, where they allegedly beat him with their hands and sticks and later stripped him naked. One of them recorded the assault on a mobile phone.
Girl, eight others held, granted bail
The phones of both the victim and accused have been seized and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory, the police said.
Kushal filed a complaint on July 1, a day after the incident. A case of kidnapping and robbery was registered, as the accused had also taken Kushal’s phone. After identifying the accused, the eight youth and the girl were arrested on Friday (July 4). They were granted bail by the court. The police have seized the car used in the crime, three mobile phones and three two-wheelers.
In the video recorded by one of the accused, Kushal is shown stripped and a reference is made to the Renukaswamy murder case. The accused, Hemanth, identifies himself as Accused No. 1 and another as A2. The video also refers to Kushal as Renukaswamy.
Responding to reporters’ queries, Home Minister G Parameshwara on Monday said the accused have been arrested. “I don’t have complete details of the case, and it is also not known whether the incident was inspired by the Renukaswamy murder case.”