Bengaluru: 71-year-old rescued from kidnappers, 3 arrested

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru city police rescued a 71-year-old woman from her kidnappers and arrested three accused in less than 12 hours of a complaint being filed at the Yelahanka police station on Tuesday evening.

The woman’s eldest son, Shivakumar, who filed the complaint, got a call from an unknown person, who said that they had kidnapped his mother and she would be released only after a ransom of Rs 1.5 crore was paid. They threatened to kill the woman if the money was not handed over to them.

Earlier in the morning, Shivakumar got a call saying that he had won a prize, which he could collect from a courier office. He went to the courier office, but found no prize, and realised that he had been duped. By the time he came back home, the house was locked and his mother, Vimala, was nowhere to be seen. Thinking that she would have gone to see a doctor, Shivakumar decided to wait. Around 3.30 pm, he received another call and this time, the kidnappers told him that they had abducted his mother.

Shivakumar immediately filed the complaint and the police swung into action. They traced the call to a rented house in Hebbal and rescued the elderly woman. Three accused – Krishna, Vijaykumar and Srinivas – were also arrested.

The police said that Krishna, the prime accused, had hatched the plot to kidnap Vimala while he was in prison in a rape case. He developed a friendship with Vijaykumar, jailed in a murder case. Vijay told Krishna that they could kidnap Vimala as her family seems to be well off with her children well settled and her daughter working in the United States.

The kidnappers traced Shivakumar’s phone number, realised that he had bought a new two-wheeler and called him to say that he had won a prize for his purchase. As Shivakumar left for the courier office, they came to his house and approached Vimala. They told the elderly woman that they were crime branch police and that she had to go with them as her daughter-in-law had attempted suicide and was struggling for life.

The police have seized a car and a bike used for the kidnapping and also gold jewellery that they had snatched from Vimala.