Bengaluru police rescue 11-year-old boy from kidnappers in 24 hours

Bengaluru, Aug 30: An 11-year-old boy, Mohammad Umar, was rescued from the clutches of a gang of kidnappers within 24 hours of his abduction with the Bengaluru police also nabbing all the six accused. 

"The gang kidnapped the boy from outside his house in the city centre on Thursday evening on the pretext of buying kites for him and drove him to Tumakuru in a car at night. The gang's kingpin called his father on the same night and asked him to pay up Rs 2 crore as a ransom for returning his son," Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant told reporters.

As Umar is fond of kites and was familiar with the kingpin, who also lives in the same locality, he went with him on his bike to buy kites from a shop in Shivajinagar.

"Instead of taking Umar back to his house, the gang bundled him into a car and drove to Tumakuru at night along with 4 accomplices," added the Bengaluru top cop. Tumakuru is about 70 km northwest of Bengaluru in the southern state.

The kingpin warned Umar's father not to complain to the police if he wanted his son back alive but the latter immediately filed a complaint in the local police station.

"As the kingpin was familiar with Umar's family and knew that his father was a well-to-do businessman, he plotted to abduct the boy for Rs 2 crore ransom and roped in 5 of his friends for executing the crime," said Pant.

On the way to Tumakuru from the city, the gang gave Umar a soft drink laced with some sedative.

"On the basis of the complaint and details furnished by Umar's father, Additional Police Commissioner (East) S Murugan formed teams to locate the gang. Using surveillance, the teams located the place where the gang kept Umar and raided the spot at Tumakuru," said Pant.

When three of the abductors tried to escape, they were chased and overpowered and Umar was rescued unharmed.

"On interrogation, the accused gave details of the kingpin's whereabouts. When our raiding team confronted him at his house in the city, he tried to escape and attacked the team members, which opened fire in self-defence. The kingpin got injured but is safe," Pant added.

Lauding the police team for rescuing the boy and arresting the gang within 24 hours, Pant announced Rs 50,000 award for the team members.