Bengaluru (PTI): Four people, former and senior students of the same college, were arrested for allegedly abducting a 19-year-old from his hostel in the city and later demanding a ransom of Rs 50,000 for his release, police said on Monday.

The victim, a first-year BBM student, was abducted by the accused on April 11 at around 7.50 pm near his hostel in BTM Layout, they said.

However, the Madiwala police foiled the plan within four hours and rescued the kidnapped student, a native of Odisha, police said.

Of those arrested, two were former students of the same college, while the remaining two were current senior students there.

The matter came to light on the night of April 11 when information was received from a student stating that another student had been kidnapped near the college hostel in BTM Layout.

According to police, the victim was forcibly taken away in a car and held in an old house in Jayanagar on Saturday night. The accused allegedly threatened him with a knife and a fake pistol and demanded that he transfer Rs 50,000 via UPI, failing which he would be killed.

They also contacted his friends and family seeking money.

Acting swiftly, Namma 112 personnel immediately relayed the information to Madiwala police officials. Based on this information, a case was registered, and an investigation was initiated.

“Within five hours of the incident, the police, using technical surveillance, successfully rescued the kidnapped student and apprehended the accused. Further investigation is in progress,” a senior police officer said.

All the accused are aged between 19 and 23 years. One of them used his father’s car to carry out the abduction, while another former student, who had passed out from the same college, joined the group in taking the victim to the house in Jayanagar, which belonged to another accused.

Police said some money was transferred to the suspects to ensure they did not harm the victim.

Police suspect the accused are habitual offenders and are investigating their possible involvement in similar cases in the past. One of the accused was also previously involved in an extortion case, they added.

The accused were remanded to judicial custody, police said, adding that further investigation is underway.

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Mysuru: Police have arrested five people in two separate cases where betting for the IPL cricket matches was going on, and have confiscated various equipment used by the arrested men for the illegal activity.

In the first case, Hebbal Police arrested two men who were reportedly found betting during the IPL cricket matches, and have confiscated one laptop and three mobile phones from the arrested men.

The arrested men are identified as Pradeep (39) and Praful (21) of Naidu Nagar.

The police team is learned to have conducted the operation on the third floor of a hotel within the Hebbal Police Station limits on getting information of betting over the IPL matches going on. The gamblers allegedly were getting citizens to invest money online and betting illegally on IPL matches over mobile phones and laptops in order to illegally earning money from them.

Pradeep and Praful were taken into custody by the police who have filed a case and are investigating it.

The second incident occurred near the Town Hall on Thursday, May 7, when Devaraja Police arrested three men who were gambling.

The police have arrested Kumar (33) of Mandimohalla, PV Vinod (32) of Ilava and Likhith Kumar (27) of Paduvarahalli.

The three men were reportedly carrying out their criminal activity inside a car parked behind the Town Hall on Thursday, in order to earn money from the IPL tournament through a mobile phone. They were also found to have gotten citizens to invest money online and off-line in the cricket matches.

They were found and arrested by policemen who were on beat in the area near the Town Hall. In addition, one car, Rs 15,900 in cash and three mobile phones were seized from them.

A case has been registered by the Devaraja Police officers, who are investigating the case.