The Banashankari police have arrested four men for allegedly abducting a 28-year-old man and extorting money from him, officials said on Tuesday.
The accused have been identified as Nihar, a resident of Bannerghatta, and Santhosh, Madhu and Manjunath, all residents of J.P. Nagar. The police have recovered ₹39,000 from the accused.
According to the police, the incident took place on January 24. Around 6.30 p.m., the accused allegedly kidnapped Nithin Gowda, a resident of Thyagarajanagar, in an autorickshaw and took him to a graveyard in J.P. Nagar.
At the spot, the accused allegedly demanded Gowda’s mobile phone password. When he refused, he was assaulted. The accused then obtained the password from him and transferred ₹47,000 from his bank account. They also allegedly robbed him of a 29-gram gold chain, valued at approximately ₹4 lakh.
As per the FIR, the accused later handed Gowda a white cover, threatened him that it contained drugs, and videographed him. They warned him that if he approached the police, they would falsely implicate him in a drug-related case. Gowda was released around 11.30 p.m.
The police said that Nihar runs a samosa outlet in Anjanapura, Bannerghatta. Gowda told investigators that he and Nihar were planning to open a business outlet together and had known each other for about two years.
About 20 days prior to the incident, Gowda lent ₹5,000 to Nihar, which had not been returned. On the day of the incident, Nihar allegedly asked Gowda to come to Banashankari 2nd Stage on the pretext of repaying the amount, but instead kidnapped and extorted him, the police said.
Published – February 03, 2026 08:14 pm IST
