Chikkamagaluru kidnap: 2 more arrested

BENGALURU: The CID sleuths probing the Chikkamagaluru kidnap case that led to the suicide of DySP Kallappa Handibag, have arrested Naveen Shetty, who played a key role in the kidnap, and his son.

Police said that Naveen Shetty, 43, a real estate agent and his son Ashwin N Shetty, 19, were arrested in Hassan. With the arrest of these two, the number of arrested in this case has gone up to 10.

The father and son duo was residing at 16th cross of 5th main at RMV 2nd stage in  Sanjayanagar. While Naveen Shetty was into real estate in both Bengaluru and Chikkamagaluru, his son Ashwin was running a dog breeding centre in Sanjaynagar.

“Both the accused were absconding and arrested at Gorur in Hassan district around 3 pm on Thursday, based on credible information. They are being questioned and will be produced before a magistrate soon,” the police added.

It is said that Naveen Shetty, a close aide of Praveen Khandya, had played a vital role in the kidnap of Tejas Gowda. “Khandya, who was approached by businessman Kalmane Nataraj to recover the money Gowda owed to him, contacted Naveen Shetty and they both planned the kidnap and roped in other accused for the job. The money paid as an advance by Kalmane Nataraj was deposited to the bank account of Naveen Shetty’s wife. She is also under the radar and will be questioned. And Shetty’s son Ashwin is arrested as Gowda was illegally detained in the dog breeding centre run by him. The centre was attached to their house and he was very much aware of the kidnap. He was also part of the crime,” an official said.

The CID police investigating the kidnap case of Tejas Gowda registered in Basavanahalli police station in Chikkamagaluru had earlier arrested eight people. However, the prime accused of the case, Praveen Khandya, a VHP leader, is still at large and efforts are on nab him.