Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police B M Laxmi Prasad informed that the Dakshina Kannada Police solved the kidnapping case involving an 8-year-old boy within 36 hours of the crime being reported and that the child was reunited with his family in Kolar. While six persons were arrested for the crime, the police are yet to nab the mastermind.
The arrested accused are identified as Ranjith (22), a data-entry operator at an IT company, Hanumanthu (21), a cab driver from Mandya, Gangadhar (25), from T Narasipura, Kamal (22), a mechanic from Electronic City in Bengaluru, and Manjunath (24) and Mahesh (26), both from Kolar.
Speaking to the media, the SP informed that the mastermind behind the kidnapping, who is known to the boy’s family, had promised to pay the gang Rs 7 lakhs for the operation. Before the kidnapping, four of the gang did a recce for 10 days and stayed at a lodge near Dharmasthala. They went around the town in a cab and interacted with the locals to collect information about the boy and his family and their movements.
Once they kidnapped the child, the gang went to Kolar passing through Sullia, Madikeri, Mandya, and Bengaluru and two hours after the abduction, one of the kidnappers called the family, demanding 100 Bitcoins as a ransom for the release of the boy.
“The number was traced to Madhya Pradesh. Following the call, there were several messages sent through WhatsApp. A cryptocurrency wallet number was also sent to the family so that they could transfer the Bitcoins,” the SP said, adding that the mastermind knew that the boy’s father invested in the cryptocurrency.
The mastermind was confident that the family would pay the ransom and told the gang that the whole episode would be over in 24 hours. When it got delayed, they were panicked and did not know what to do. Since two of the gang are from Kolar, the gang took the boy to that tow. They treated the boy well and were keen on returning him to his family, the SP added.
“When we spoke to the father, he informed us that he had stopped trading in Bitcoins three years ago. The mastermind planned the kidnapping assuming that the father was still investing in Bitcoins. We were already certain that the crime was committed by a person who knows the family and have some clues as to their identity. We are confident that we will make an arrest soon,” said the SP.
He added that the mastermind was acquainted with the boy’s father three years ago when the latter was into Bitcoin trading. Further investigations will reveal whether he kidnapped the boy only for the ransom or if it was over personal enmity.
“The boy has been reunited with his parents after obtaining permission from the Kolar magistrate. The accused were also produced before a court,” SP Laxmi Prasad stated.
