6 held for plotting to kidnap entrepreneur

MANGALORE: Police have arrested six persons for allegedly plotting to kidnap entrepreneurs to extort money under directions of an anti-social element Rakesh alias Althaf residing abroad.
The arrested are Harish K M alias Nanjappa (38), Bopanna (25), Rajesh (20), A P Jagadeesh (24), B S Ashok (34) and Bopanna (20), residents of Kodagu. Police have seized a country-made gun (nada kovi), four bullets, a four wheeler and four cell phones from the arrested persons.
Speaking to presspersons here on Sunday, Western Range IGP Gopal Hosur said the arrest has been a major milestone in the operation against underground and anti-social elements in the district. The arrested persons had planned to kidnap a Mangalore-based NRI entrepreneur to extort money and murder a Bangalore-based entrepreneur, he said.
The plot came to light when the police arrested the accused near Shanthipalke under Mulki police station limits on Sunday. The culprits were waiting outside the entrepreneur's house to kidnap him. They had also planned to shoot him if he refused to heed to their demands. They came here in May to identify the entrepreneur's house and planned to kidnap him when came to attend a wedding ceremony in the city. However, their plans could not be materialized due to a huge gathering at the function.
The same gang had plotted to kidnap a builder named Mahesh from Bangalore. But here too they did not succeed as Mahesh cancelled his visit to Vijayanagar in Mysore, where the gang was waiting to execute its plan, he said. Hosur maintained that the gang had hatched these plans under the instructions of Rakesh alias Altaf who arranged for the weapon and finance for the crime through a person in Hassan.
During the interrogation it was found that Althaf has been involved in seven cases earlier and Harish K M was accused in a case in Bangalore. Police were collecting information from the Bangalore and Kodagu police and taking steps to nab Altaf who escaped abroad after he was granted a bail in one of the cases, he said.