Sharath Kumar
The son of an Income Tax officer, who was kidnapped for ransom on September 12, was found dead on the outskirts of Bengaluru on Thursday evening. Four persons, including a friend of the youth, have been arrested on charges of kidnapping and murder.
According to police, Sharath Kumar (19), a second-year engineering student, went missing on September 12 after he left his home in west Bengaluru on a new motorcycle his parents had gifted him. He had set out to show the bike to his friends in a neighbouring locality.
The next day, the alleged kidnappers sent a video message via WhatsApp to the youth’s mother and sister. In the video, Sharath stated that he had been kidnapped by some persons who looked like terrorists and were demanding a ransom of Rs 50 lakh from his parents, said police.
Following this, the youth’s father Niranjan Kumar approached Jnanabharathi police station and filed a complaint. Police investigation revealed that Sharath had been allegedly kidnapped by his sister’s boyfriend Vishal and his three associates, all of whom were known to him.
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Police said Vishal (22) planned to kidnap the I-T officer’s son as he was in debt and wanted to pay it off with the ransom money. Sharath is believed to have been strangulated a couple of days after he was kidnapped, said police.
Vishal, who lived near Sharath’s house and was acquainted with his family, and his associates, Vinay Prasad, Vinod Kumar and Kiran Pai, have been arrested in the case while one person Shanthakumar is yet to be traced, Bengaluru police commissioner T Suneel Kumar said.
According to police, the kidnappers killed Sharath because they were scared of being nabbed after learning that his family had filed a police complaint. Initially, they allegedly dumped the body in a lake on the outskirts of Bengaluru but when it floated to the surface after two days, they buried it near the lake.
Police managed to identify and track down the accused with the help of analysis of mobile communications and the video message sent to Sharath’s family, police said. Sharath Kumar was kidnapped in a sedan and was thereafter kept hostage in the car, said police.
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