Bangalore:
A 40-year-old woman and her four associates were arrested for kidnapping Ramnath Naik (45), a tax consultant, who had allegedly duped her of Rs 1.5 lakh after promising to secure a bank loan for her to start a mineral water bottling company.
Sudha Naidu, a native of Gulbarga district, had gone ahead and invested in land to set up the company based on Naik's promise, but incurred a loss of about Rs 8 lakh when he ditched her.
After repeated requests to return her money failed to yield results, she decided to kidnap Naik and recover the amount.
As per plan, Sudha followed Naik in her SUV and intercepted him on S C Road in the city. Before anyone in Naik's car could react, eight of her associates bundled him into her vehicle and sped away.
Sudha then contacted Naik's family demanding Rs 6 lakh for his safe release.
Naik's relatives informed the Upparapet police and according to their advice, agreed to pay the ransom and asked Sudha where they were supposed to drop off the money.
The trick worked and team led by Police Inspector Lokeshwar of Upparapet police station swung into action and nabbed Sudha and her associates.
While the arrests were being made, the group attacked the police team and four of the kidnappers managed to escape.
"If Sudha had complained to us, we could have helped her. But now the victim has become the accused and the accused has become the victim. We have booked those arrested and are currently tracing the others," Lokeshwar said.