A 35-year-old man, working as a make-up artist and production manager in the Telugu film industry, was rescued by Hyderabad police hours after he was kidnapped for a ransom amount of Rs 4 lakh. The victim, Amaranath Reddy, was kidnapped by acquaintances whom he had been avoiding after promising to pay them Rs 4 lakh in exchange for a favour, police said. Four of the six persons allegedly involved in the kidnapping have been arrested.
On Tuesday afternoon, hours after Amaranath left his Banjara Hills residence to go to his office in Madhapur in his car, his wife Kalpana received the ransom call from his phone, according to a statement from the Hyderabad police. A stranger who was on the other end of the line handed the phone to her husband Amaranath, who told Kalpana he had been kidnapped by around seven persons and asked her to send the ransom amount of Rs 4 lakh to the account of Pradeep, the prime accused in the case. The kidnappers allegedly threatened to take Amaranath to Chennai and kill him, if the amount wasn’t deposited by Thursday evening.
Kalpana lodged a complaint with the Banjara Hills Police, who arranged the ransom money and sent photos of the cash to the kidnappers from Kalpana’s phone. The kidnappers then asked Kalpana to bring the cash to Srinagar Colony. Police accompanied her to the location, where they managed to apprehend one of the kidnappers Lokesh Kumar while the cash was being handed over. The main accused Pradeep, however, got away.
On interrogating Lokesh, police collected the phone numbers of the remaining person involved in the case and traced them through cell tower locations. The rest of the kidnappers were intercepted as they were travelling towards Chennai via Nalgonda. Police arrested three men, Kumara Guru, Jagadish and Ganesh Kumar.
Further investigation revealed that Amaranath had previously sought help from three of the accused, Pradeep, Kumara Guru and Lokesh, who reside in Chennai. These accused persons had reportedly helped Amaranath recover Rs 10 lakh from a Chennai man who had cheated Amaranath’s friend to the tune of Rs 13.5 Lakhs. Amaranath had reportedly promised to give an amount of Rs 4 lakh to the accused persons for their help, but later avoided their calls demanding the amount. After his evasive responses, Pradeep allegedly arrived in Hyderabad and through his girlfriend Madhu, contacted Amaranath. Madhu is also an accused in the case.
According to the police, Madhu asked Amaranath to meet her at a place in Kavuri Hills, Madhapur. When he reached the location, Pradeep and Ganesh Kumar removed Amaranath’s clothes and recorded his videos, threatening to circulate them if he approached the police. Amarnath was then kidnapped and taken to Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park, a deer national park located in Vanasthalipuram, where the ransom call to his wife was made.
Police have registered a case under section 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) of the IPC (Indian Penal Code), and arrested four persons, while Pradeep and Madhu are still absconding.