The Halasuru police arrested three men, who posing as policemen, allegedly kidnapped a bullion trader from Delhi and his business partner, a Chartered Accountant, for a ransom of ₹10 lakh.
The accused Nazeem Pasha, is a habitual offender who had been arrested by the Pulakeshi Nagar for house break-ins. He teamed up with his associates, Santosh and Asghar, who are cab drivers by profession, and two other friends. They hatched a plan to kidnap Aravind Mehta and Diwakar Reddy.
Mehta, a licensed bullion trader from Delhi, was in the city for business. He approached Diwakar, a city-based CA, and the two would meet at a hotel on Dickenson Road every day. Pasha, who got to know about Mehta’s business ventures, checked his background on social media and hatched a plan to extort money from them.
On August 6, he and the other gang members approached the duo posing as policemen while they were having a meeting at the hotel and insisted that they be escorted to the police station for an inquiry. Mehta had a cheating case pending against him, which Pasha learned about. They also asked Diwakar to accompany them.
“The CA’s friend who had accompanied him to the hotel saw the incident. When he could not contact Diwakar, he approached the police the next day. A special team, with the help of CCTVs and call record details, tracked the accused to a hotel in Koramangala where Pasha and the others had kept the CA and the trader prisoners,” said a police official. The accused were demanding ₹10 lakh for their release.
While the police arrested the trio and rescued Mehta and Diwakar, two others who were part of the gang, escaped. Efforts are on to track them down.
