BENGALURU: A police sub-inspector and a journalist were arrested on charges of kidnapping and stealing Rs 26.50 lakh from two people, who work for a Tumakuru businessman. Jeevan Kumar (31), an SI at SJ Park police station, and Jnanaprakash (44), a reporter with Suddi Saramale newspaper, are the arrested. Jeevan is married to Jnanaprakash’s niece.

The police said Mohan, a dealer in agri products in Gubbi, had sent his driver Shivakumaraswamy and another person to collect cash from Bharath, who runs a distribution centre at Chickpet. On August 19, they collected Rs 26.50 lakh from Bharath, and Mohan wanted them to wait as another payment was pending.

“When they were waiting in their car near the Chickpet Metro Station, three men, claiming to be policemen, kidnapped them. The accused took them to the Unity Buildings parking lot, where people from another car snatched the cash bag,” the police said. Shivakumaraswamy filed a complaint two days later.  “We’re searching for the others,” said DCP (West) Sanjeev Patil.