Abduction case: Search on for moneylender

The police are on the hunt for a moneylender who allegedly abducted the child of one of his customers who refused to pay the high interest rates on a loan he had taken. The boy was later reunited with his family, after the accused let him off on learning that the boy’s father had approached the police.

On Tuesday morning, the moneylender Veerabharaiah and his associates barged into the family’s house at Adakamaranahalli and kidnapped the 15-year-old boy who was spending his summer vacation with his father. He studies at a residential school in Andhra Pradesh. His father M. Chandrashekhar, who drives a tractor to earn a living, was not at home at the time. When he returned home in the evening and realised that his son was missing, and he tried calling the boy on his cellphone. In his complaint to the police, Chandrashekhar said that it was Veerabharaiah who answered the phone, and demanded ₹1.5 lakh in return for his son’s release.

The father immediately approached the police even though the accused warned him against doing so. Chandrashekhar said he had borrowed ₹20,000 from Veerabharaiah in 2015 and had repaid the loan in seven instalments. However, the moneylender demanded interest to the tune of ₹1.5 lakh.