4 in police net for kidnapping Dubai businessman in Bengaluru; cops say girlfriend tipped off gang about his lavish lifestyle
The kidnapping is alleged to have happened after the girlfriend of the businessman – who is yet to be arrested – tipped off the gang about his lifestyle of gambling and partying while he was on a visit to Bengaluru from Dubai.
The Bengaluru-resident mother of the 37-year-old Kerala-origin businessman, Milton Lawrence, had filed a complaint with the Ashoknagar police on July 16 about her son going missing from the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Bengaluru on July 12.
Subsequently, the businessman himself filed a police complaint on July 23 about his abduction from July 13 to 22 by six persons, including his girlfriend, Mahima Vat.
The Bengaluru central police have identified the four persons who have been arrested for the kidnapping of the businessman as Mohammed Ashif, 42, Salman Pasha, 22, Mohammed Nawaz, 27, and Mohammed Suhel, 25. The arrested men are residents of RT Nagara, DJ Halli, and KG Halli in Bengaluru. They are alleged to be part of an eight-member gang that carried out the kidnapping for ransom.
'Four persons have been arrested. Basically, his girlfriend only planned it. It was more for quick bucks than ransom. This guy has made big bucks, and his girlfriend knew about it. He is flamboyant and boastful about his wealth. The girlfriend is yet to be secured,' said a Bengaluru police officer who is familiar with the investigations in the case.
In his complaint about the kidnapping, Lawrence, who describes himself as the manager of a tours and travels company in Dubai, stated that he had arrived in Bengaluru in June with his family and they stayed briefly at his parents' home in east Bengaluru before traveling to Kerala.
On his return from Kerala to Bengaluru, the businessman is reported to have taken a room at the Ritz Carlton for himself and visited a poker joint in east Bengaluru on July 12 and 13. According to the police complaint, Lawrence received a call from his girlfriend in Bengaluru on July 13 asking him to meet her instead of spending time playing poker.
His girlfriend allegedly sent a car to pick up Lawrence at his hotel, and the businessman was allegedly kidnapped in the car by a gang that blindfolded him and took him to a service apartment where he was held captive for a week.
The gang is alleged to have taken away Rs 1 lakh in cash from the possession of Lawrence and then demanded Rs 50 lakh. When the businessman offered to pay Rs 20 lakh, the gang refused it, and when he agreed to pay the Rs 50 lakh amount, the gang is alleged to have asked for Rs 2.5 crore to secure his release from captivity.
The gang is alleged to have released the businessman on July 22 after getting wind of police investigations based on the complaint filed by his mother.
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