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The Andhra Pradesh police have arrested four people in connection with the alleged kidnapping of a realtor couple at Akkayyapalem in Visakhapatnam. The police said that five men who came in two cars had forcibly picked up Patnala Srinivasa Rao and Lovalakshmi from their office premises around 4 pm on Wednesday, June 28. When the accused stopped the cars for a break at Kokkirapalli in Elamanchili Mandal, Lovalakshmi managed to escape from the car and flee. She immediately went to the Visakhapatnam IV town police station to lodge a complaint, and based on the information she provided, the police eventually rescued Srinivasa Rao.
Four of the accused — Grandhi Bramaiah (38), Sai Nikhil (25), Bandari Veera Manikanta (25), and Singamreddy Pradeep Reddy (27) — have been taken into custody. The fifth, Sunny, is still absconding. The police found that Srinivasa Rao had taken an amount of Rs 20 lakh from one of the accused, Veera Manikanta, which he did not return.
Sreenivasa also has a prior criminal record, and has spent up to 11 months in remand after his real estate broker company allegedly defaulted on refunding money taken from customers. According to the police, Srinivasa and four others set up MK Construction in 2019. The idea was to act as mediators between land buyers and sellers, and take commission from prospective customers. The company also paid an advance money to landowners and sold the lands to buyers for a higher price. After the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, however, the company was unable to continue its functions or refund its customers. Up to 39 victims lodged a complaint against the Vijayawada firm, MK Construction, and a cheating case to the tune of three crore and 36 lakh rupees was registered. The case is still pending in court.
Based on Lovalakshmi’s complaint, the police have registered a case against the five accused under Indian Penal Code Sections 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with an intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person), and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) read with 34 (criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention).
