Kushalnagar: Kodagu Police have arrested eight individuals including a woman from Mysuru on charges of abduction and robbery. The perpetrators had demanded a ransom of Rs. 5 lakh from the victim. 

When he was unable to provide the cash, he was robbed of cash, gold ornaments, ATM cards, mobile phones and a two-wheeler.

The incident occurred on the night of Apr. 4 at the KSRTC Bus Stand, where Hemanth, a resident of Kanive Basavanahalli village, was forcibly taken in a Scorpio (KA-01-MB-0602) vehicle around 7.30 pm. The culprits then took him to Bettadapura Road, where they threatened him with a knife and demanded Rs. 5 lakh in cash.

Upon Hemanth’s inability to pay the cash, the accused robbed six finger rings weighing 14 grams, one bracelet weighing 7 grams, a 12-gram gold chain, one locket, two ATM cards, one smartwatch, two mobile phones and Rs. 4,000 in cash. Furthermore, they forcibly took Hemanth’s scooter key and absconded with his two-wheeler (KA-12-U-7173), which was parked at the KSRTC Bus Stand.

Hemanth lodged a complaint with the Kushalnagar Town Police. According to Kodagu Superintendent of Police (SP) K. Ramarajan, eight individuals, including a woman, have been arrested, while one of the suspects remains at large. All the accused are residents of Mysuru. The arrests were made under the leadership of Kushalnagar Town Police Inspector B.G. Prakash. 

The accused have been identified as Yasin (21) and Ruksana (23) from Rajivnagar, Shahabaz (28), Abzal (21) and Suhail Ahmed (30) from Ghousianagar, Yasin (23) from Periyapatna, Faisal Khan (23) from Ghousianagar and Mudassir (24) from Rajivnagar. Kuran alias Pillai from Ghousianagar is absconding, the Police said. 

The Scorpio vehicle that was used in the crime is worth Rs. 3,50,000, gold ornaments worth 1,82,000, two mobile phones worth Rs. 50,000, scooter worth Rs. 30,000, the scooter used by Ruksana worth Rs. 30,000 used in the crime, Rs. 5,000 cash and seven mobile phones used by the accused have been seized. The total worth of seized goods is Rs. 5,97,000.