3 kidnap Bengaluru spa owner to pay online gambling debt, arrested; Victim rescued in 2 days

Bengaluru: A daring kidnapping plot that unfolded on the outskirts of the city ended with the dramatic rescue of a spa owner and the arrest of three young men who allegedly abducted him for ransom after meticulously tracking his movements for days.Electronics City police arrested Manjunath, 25, from Bannerghatta; Prajwal, 25, from Anekal; and Akshay, 28, of Jigani, and rescued the victim, Ashutosh Jha alias Ashit Jha, a native of Bihar who lived in Thirupalya near Bommasandra and co-owned a spa in Akshayanagar, Begur.
The incident took place around 9pm on Feb 15. Ashit and spa manager Manu Kumar were heading home on a bike after closing the spa when a car intercepted them near Arena Sports Road, close to Bettadasanapura. The sudden obstruction caused Manu to lose control and both fell. One of the assailants allegedly got off the car, attacked Manu with a long machete and forcibly pushed Ashit into the vehicle at knifepoint before fleeing.Manu, unsure whether the gang intended to abduct both of them, rushed to a nearby hospital in an autorickshaw for treatment. Soon after, the kidnappers used Ashit's phone to call him. They made Ashit speak briefly to assure him he was safe, warning him not to alert police and demanding a ransom. Later, they contacted Ashit's partner, Prakash Mandal, seeking Rs 2 lakh for his release. Manu lodged a complaint with Electronics City police around 1.45am. A special team led by inspector Naveen GM began tracking the suspects, who repeatedly made calls from Ashit's phone and kept changing locations, switching the device off between calls to avoid detection. Police told Mandal to agree to pay the ransom. "The gang chose a deserted place in S Bingipura near Electronics City to collect the ransom. One of the miscreants came to collect the money, and police detained him. Based on his inputs, the other two accused were detained, and Ashit was rescued Tuesday evening," said DCP (Electronics City) M Narayana. Police seized the car used in the abduction, lethal weapons, three mobile phones and Rs 9,700 in cash from the trio.Investigations revealed that Manjunath, a housekeeping supervisor at an apartment in Gottigere, had allegedly misappropriated Rs 1.5 lakh from the apartment funds and lost it in online gaming. During his birthday on Feb 5, he confided his financial troubles to Akshay and Prajwal. Akshay, who needed money to service his car and had a prior murder case against him, allegedly suggested kidnapping a spa owner he knew. Fearing exposure, they dropped that plan and instead targeted Ashit, tracking him for three days before executing the abduction. With no place to hide him, the trio kept roaming around the city after the kidnapping, even making Ashit pay for food and fuel during captivity. The accused were produced before court Wednesday and remanded to police custody for further investigation.