Hyderabad: Five held for kidnap of IT employee

Hyderabad: Cyberabad police apprehended five members of a gang who allegedly kidnapped a 34-year-old software engineer from Raidurgam and demanded ransom from his family.

The IT employee was kidnapped in a car by a notorious ransom kidnapping gang on January 4 in Khajaguda, where he went after being called by a female cousin.

The arrested persons are Gunjapogu Suresh alias Surya (31), B Venkata Krishna (28) native of Krishna district AP, Gurram Nikhita (23), of Guntur, Ramagila Raju (20), and Shinde Rohith (19) of Mehdipatnam, while two others, Chandul and Venkat are absconding. The police seized two cars, two bikes, and seven mobile phones from them.

The prime accused, Suresh, who is the leader of the abduction gang, has a criminal record of as many as 22 cases of theft, robbery, and kidnapping for ransom.

He planned to earn big money by kidnapping a rich man. He discussed the plan with Krishna and his girlfriend Nikhita, who suggested they kidnap her cousin Surender as he had recently purchased a house and had money.

Suresh and others tried to kidnap Surender on a couple of instances but failed. Then Suresh sought help from Nikhita and asked her to call Surender to a secluded place. “ The woman asked Surender to come to Khajaguda Lake to discuss some personal issues, and from there, the gang kidnapped him.

Nikhita then went to the police station and lodged a complaint stating that Surender was kidnapped. She pretended to help the family and police,” said T Srinivasa Rao, DCP Madhapur.

Meanwhile, Suresh made a phone call to the victim’s family and demanded a ransom of Rs 2 crore for his release. “Special teams of police tracked down the victim at Kadthal in Rangareddy district and contacted the local police there. The police launched a search in the area, and on noticing it, Suresh and his associates left the victim and fled away,” said the DCP.

The police later tracked down Suresh and brought him to the city. During his interrogation, he revealed the roles of others, including Nikhita.

A case under relevant IPC sections was registered, and the hunt is on to nab two other absconding accused.