KIDNAPPED RESORT OWNER RESCUED IN BANGALORE

KIDNAPPED RESORT OWNER RESCUED IN BANGALORE

Mangalore Today

Bangalore, Jan 2: A joint team of Bangalore and Goan police rescued a man from a seven-day captivity in a filmy style operation, here on Saturday, duping his abductors by paying ransom in bundles of white paper covered with currency notes.

 

However, the police failed to nab the kidnappers and allowed them to escape with Rs 2000.

A gang of about six-seven members had kidnapped Sagar Wadhwani (25), owner of ’Ginger Resorts’ in Goa, on December 26 near Sholapur in Maharashtra when he was on his way to Pune in a car. A day later on December 27, they demanded a ransom of Rs two crore for his release.

The abductors first took him to Belgaum, Mysore and Bangalore before finally keeping him at a lodge in Chikkaballapur. They called Sagar’s father Indar Wadhwani and spelt out their demand. They continued to contact his family members insisting for early payment of ransom and threatened them with dire consequences if they sought police help.

When Wadhwani’s family expressed their inability to pay Rs two crore, the kidnappers agreed to settle for Rs 35 lakh. At this juncture, they informed the police, who concluded that Wadhwani was kept somewhere in the State.

The gang told Indar Wadhwani that the payment should be made to them at Bilikere near Mysore and Sagar Wadhwani would be released soon after, police said.

Members of Wadhwani’s family, along with plainclothesmen, reached the spot on Friday with a suitcase. The gang arrived in a vehicle near Belikeri later. The culprits in their hurry to take away the booty, took the suitcase, dumped Wadhwani out of the vehicle and fled, police said.

The police had camouflaged each bundle of white paper with a currency note to make the abductors believe that the suitcase contained cash. In total, they forked out only Rs 2,000 to secure the release of Wadhwani. A hunt for the kidnappers has been launched, one of them spoke Kannada, police said.