Kidnap victim gives story of ’adventure’ on return to city

Kidnap victim gives story of ’adventure’ on return to city

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru Aug 07, 2016 :  Speaking to media  on Aug 6, Saturday, Richard Marian Lazrath, the Mangaluru based businessman who was kidnapped in Bharathpur in Rajasthan on July 30 narrated how the kidnappers had kept him in holed up in an unknown locations for four nights without food and his ordeal.

 

He explained that he could neither sleep or get any food and survived with only little water. The members of Mudassir gang, which was functioning from Hathiya in Mathura of Uttar Pradesh had kidnapped him and held him captive from July 30 to August 2, demanding a ransom of Rs 10 lakh from his friend Arun D’Souza in Mangaluru.

Richard a technician too, had been to Bharathpur to purchase four generators at a cheap rate. Arun D’Souza had received a call from an unknown person informing him of four generators that are available at low price. Following this, Arun sent Richard to Bharathpur to check the condition of generators and negotiate.

Richard left Mangaluru on July 28 and reached Bharathpur on July 30. "The person, who offered old generators, arrived in a pick-up van and took me to a field in Hathiya. Later, a group of 10 to 15 persons tied my hands and demanded a ransom of Rs 10 lakh. They snatched my phone, Rs 1,000 cash and withdrew Rs 6,000 using my debit card. However, they allowed me to make calls using my phone only to arrange the ransom. Using code words in Tulu, I managed to convey the message to Arun that I was kidnapped," he narrated.

Following a complaint by Arun, the Mangaluru City Police - in cooperation with the Uttar Pradesh and Bharathpur police - rescued Richard from the clutches of kidnappers.

Narrating the ordeal, Richard said "The kidnappers beat me and tortured me physically and had tied my hands at a remote place in Hathiya. Keeping me at gunpoint, they forced me to call my friends in Mangaluru to arrange Rs 10 lakh. They threatened to kill me if I failed to arrange money."

Speaking about the rescue operation, Arun said a joint operation by Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh police had helped rescue Richard. The police team had found three pistols, two guns, ganja and other contrabands at Hathiya village where Richard was held captive. Later, the police team also arrested Mehmood, a resident of Bharathpur, in connection with the kidnap.

Richard, Arun and their friends thanked Minister U T Khader and the Mangaluru City Police team that succeeded in the rescue operation.