It was perhaps the most distressing 36 hours in the lives of Rajesh M and Malashree, residents of Bengaluru’s Manjunathnagar and parents to their five-year-old son Chandan.
On Sunday afternoon, Chandan went missing shortly after going out of his house to play with his friends.
When Rajesh, a driver, returned home and could not find his son, the family began a frantic search in their neighbourhood.
A few hours later, they received a ransom call from the abductors of Chandan. They made a demand of Rs 35 lakh from Rajesh for the safe release of his son.
Rajesh approached the KP Agrahara police who immediately launched a rescue operation for the five-year-old.
A swift investigation and an action-packed chase later, Chandan got home after 36-hours in captivity. While the police managed to nab his abductors, what emerged was a story of greed and deceit.
The alleged mastermind of the crime was Rajesh's landlord Abhishek C, a 23-year-old who ran a travel business. Abhishek allegedly hatched a plan to kidnap Chandan as he had suffered losses in his business. He thought he could get the money from Rajesh since he was aware that the latter's father owns 23 acres of land near Tumakuru.
To carry out his plan, he was helped by three associates, including an accused in a murder case.
Once the police investigation began, the cops found that Abhishek had been in telephonic contact with the number from which Rajesh had received the ransom call. He was promptly taken in for questioning where he allegedly confessed to the crime.
The men hired a Santro and had planned to constantly move around the city with the boy in the vehicle. The car was finally tracked by the cops and the boy was rescued in the early hours of Tuesday from near Kengeri.
During the chase, one of the men, identified as DJ, was shot at in the leg when he allegedly tried to attack the police with a machete. He was later taken to the Victoria Hospital for treatment. The police said that the men had not harmed Chandan.
