Dramatic rescue of stamp vendor

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, APRIL 30. Three persons, including the nephew of the Mayor, Mr. Ramachandrappa, kidnapped a 28-year-old stamp vendor from a posh hotel in the Cubbon Park police limits in Bangalore on Saturday night and threatened to kill him if his father failed to pay a Rs. 10 lakhs.

However, in a swift action, the Shivajinagar Police rescued the abducted youth and arrested the three kidnappers within two hours after the crime.

According to police, three persons approached Mr. T. Diwakar, a stamp vendor at the Taluk Office and a resident of Jayanagar, around 1 p.m. on Saturday and asked for stamp papers worth Rs. 5 lakhs saying that they were purchasing 45 acres of land.

Mr. Diwakar told them that he did not have stamp papers worth Rs. 5 lakhs and would mobilise the stamp papers from other vendors by evening.

He even asked the ``customers'' to bring their lawyer with them saying that such huge transactions were usually done with the help of an advocate. Mr. Diwakar told them to contact him in the evening on his pager. Around 7 p.m. Mr. Diwakar got a message on his pager asking him to come to the Hotel Capitol on Raj Bhavan Road. When he came to the hotel on his scooter, the three asked him to get into their car, stating that they had to consult their lawyer.

However, they took him around the City and robbed him of Rs. 20,000 in cash after threatening him with an air pistol. Later, they accused Mr. Diwakar of making huge money by selling fake stamp papers and demanded Rs. 10 lakhs for his release. The kidnappers called Mr. Diwakar's father, Mr. Thippanna, who resides in Shivajinagar, on their mobile phone and asked him to come to the CSI Hospital in Shivajinagar with Rs. 10 lakhs to get his son released.

Mr. Thippanna approached the Shivajinagar Police Inspector, Mr. N. Nagaraj, who immediately constituted a special squad and sent it to rescue Mr. Diwakar.

The police officers, in civil dress, along with Mr. Diwakar's father, came to the CSI Hospital where a red Maruti car was parked. Police, who suspected that Mr. Diwakar and his abductors were in the car, asked Mr. Thippana to go to the car with a suitcase.

One person opened the door of the car and started conversing with Mr. Thippana. But two others who were in the car saw the policemen in plain clothes and mistook them for rowdies and started driving the car.

However, Mr. Dhananjaya, assistant sub-inspector, blocked the car with his motorcycle. The other policemen surrounded the car despite being threatened by the kidnappers with an air pistol.

After the kidnappers came to know that those who had surrounded them were policemen, they surrendered without any resistance. Police rescued Mr. Diwakar and arrested the three kidnappers, Seshadri (23) of Malleswaram, Girish (24) of Palace Guttahalli, who is the Mayor's nephew, and L.D. Nagaraj (50) of Seshadripuram.

According to police, the three accused were working as loan recovery agents for various private finance companies in the City. There were criminal cases pending against them in Vayalikaval Police Station.Police have seized an air pistol, three mobile phones, Rs. 20,000 in cash, two cars and gold ornaments worth Rs. 1.50 lakh from the accused. The Shivajinagar Police have registered a case of kidnapping and are investigating.

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Section  : Regional
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