Police in Bengaluru arrested a 21-year-old man on Tuesday for allegedly kidnapping an 11-year-old boy. According to police, he had demanded a ransom of Rs 5 lakh from the boy's parents and was inspired by a Hindi crime TV series, reported Deccan Herald.
The police identified the accused as Chirag R Mehta, who was a resident of Basavanagudi’s Bull Temple Road.
According to reports, a joint team of Cottonpet and Chamrajpet Police Station were able to nab the accused within just five hours of him making the ransom call. Police said that he had committed the crime as he wanted to make some money quickly to fund his betting and gambling habit, according to The Times of India.
Reports said Chirag knew that the boy was usually picked up by an employee of his father, who is a businessman, around 4 pm from his school. He made sure that on Tuesday, he reached the school around 3 pm and met the boy. The accused allegedly convinced the child that he was his father’s friend and took him pillion on a rented bike.
Meanwhile, the boy’s mother was informed by the man who usually picks him up from school that somebody else had taken the boy.
After speaking to the child, Chirag acquired the phone number of the boy’s father and allegedly made the ransom call, with a warning not to approach the police. The ransom call came when the boy’s father was already on his way to the police station.
Without paying any heed to the warning, the businessman approached Cottonpet police who, in turn, formed teams to identify the accused. The Cottonpet Police inspector-led team started going through CCTV footage of the school area, while the team led by the Chamrajpet Inspector started tracking the location of the caller.
Soon the police were able to track the accused’s location to a hotel on St Mark’s Road near Lavelle Road. Upon reaching the location, police found the boy alone at the Traffic Police Park. The boy led him to the accused, who had tried to flee the police.