knifepoint

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Bengaluru

The ATM in KR Puram where one of the victims was asked to take money from

The victim was brought to KR Puram ATM (above) from Hebbal and then forced to withdraw money at knifepoint

A man who accepted a lift from four people in a car, was kidnapped, robbed of valuables worth Rs 50,000 and held captive atfor three hours. But in that duration, he got an inside view of how this gang operates. In the three hours that the gang held him captive, they robbed a student and beat up another man for not having money.When the gang let him off at 6.45 in the morning after driving him around the city, they took his photos and his address from his voter ID and threatened to cause him grievous harm if he reported the incident to the police.Raghu (name changed), 31, a resident of Meerapanahalli and an employee who handles production at a media house, has filed a complaint with the Amruthahally police. Raghu said that the incident took place during the early hours of March 1 when he reachedat around 3.30 a.m. “I boarded a bus from Hyderabad to Bengaluru on February 29. We were supposed to reach the city around 4:30 am but we reached one hour early. I got down near Esteem Mall and was searching for some mode of transport to reach Tin factory in KR Puram when a white car stopped and asked me if I wanted a lift.I told them that I wanted to go to KR Puram and they took me on board saying that they were travelling in the same direction as well. There were four men inside the car and I sat in the rear seat with two men. As soon as I got in, they started asking me a lot of questions about what I do and where I work. After a few kilometres, they stopped the vehicle, held me at knife point and asked me to hand over all the money and valuables I had. I did as I was told. They first took my mobile phone and then my gold ring. They took my debit cards too,” said Raghu.The gang then took him to KR Puram and stopped their car outside IndusInd Bank ATM on the main road. “As they had held a knife to my back, I was forced to share the PIN number as well. I had only 1500 in my account and they withdrew it all. When they asked for the PIN of another card, I refused to share it. I told them that it was a new card and I had not received the PIN. They did not believe me and checked my phone. They checked all the online wallets on my phone and found out the balance. Just a day before, my salary had been credit into my account. They transferred Rs. 46,500 into their bank account through online transaction,” said Raghu.If he thought they would let him go after they had cleaned his account, Raghu was mistaken. Instead, they beat him and forced him to sit with them while they drove around.“From Tin factory, we returned to Hebbal flyover where they picked up another victim on the pretext of giving him a lift. That person turned out to be a student and he had only Rs. 500 with him. They threatened him at knifepoint and after taking his money, they threw him out of the car. In between, they told me about how they rob people under the pretext of offering them a lift,” said Raghu.The gang then stopped the car near Esteem Mall when they ran out of diesel. They made him sit inside the car with two men while the other two caught an auto and went to get diesel from the nearest petrol bunk.When the men returned with the diesel, there was more torture in store for Raghu. “They took my phone and started taking my photos and threatened me that they had my phone and they could trace me if I tried approaching the police. They took photos of my Voter ID card and told me that they had saved my address too. I requested them to let me go but they took me towards Kodigehalli where they picked up another person. After finding out that he had no money, they beat him and threw him out of their car. They said boastfully that they do not chase petty guys and always hunt for rich people from whom they can rob,” said Raghu.They told him that they were habitual offenders and that they had been to jail. They also proudly told him that they are imprisoned for three months and after which, it is business as usual.After roaming around the city for a while, the gang dropped Raghu at the Hebbal flyover around 6:45 am. He said, “I immediately approached the Hebbal police as I did not have a single penny on me. They gave me food and took me to Amruthahally police station as it came under their limits. I filed a complaint and they showed me a couple of photographs of the habitual offenders and I managed to identify three of them.”Amruthahally police have registered a case and are on the lookout for the accused.