"The accused were arrested on the charges of kidnapping and seeking ransom for freeing the victim (Ishan Bapat), an engineering student," Bengaluru Police Commissioner N.S. Megharik told reporters here.
The accused are Muniyappa, 29, Hasan Dhongri, 26, Jagadish, 32, Jagannatha, 19, and Manoj, 19. They were produced before a local court and remanded to police custody for interrogation and investigation.
"Though the gang kidnapped Bapat on August 23 from a eatery place when he was with his girl friend, it let him off next day (August 24) after we intensified search and tracked its movements," said Megharik.
The police chief clarified that no ransom was paid for the boy's release as the accused were trapped by a special team formed to trace them in the city.
The gang, however, demanded unspecified ransom from Bapat's girlfriend after releasing him.
"Posing as an auto driver, a constable took the girl to a spot where the gang was waiting for the ransom. When she acted arguing with the 'driver', she called Dongri to intervene and settle the issue. As he walked up to the auto, he was nabbed by our men in plain-clothes from behind, leading to the arrest of the other four with the information he (Dongri) gave to our sleuths," said Megharik.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Muniyappa had acted in a Kannada movie ("Challenger") and came in contact with Dongri during its shooting. As he wanted to produce a movie and did not have funds, he plotted to kidnap the victim.
"When the accused came to know that police were trailing them, they left Bapat near Jalahalli and fled," added Megharik.
