Ravi Pujari aide held in Varthur Prakash abduction case

KOLAR:  Kolar police have cracked the sensational kidnap-for-ransom case of former Kolar MLA Varthur R Prakash, with the arrest of prime accused Kaviraj. Preliminary probe revealed that Kaviraj is an aide of gangster Ravi Pujari, and was allegedly involved in Shabnam Developers murder case in Bengaluru. The Varthur Prakash kidnap case was a challenge for the Kolar police, after it was transferred from Bellandur police station to Kolar, and IGP (Cent ral Range) Seemant Kumar Singh set up a team, headed by Kolar SP Karthick Reddy.

The team worked on various angles, including technical aspects, and managed to arrest prime accused Kaviraj, after a filmy car chase for nearly 20km, at Virudunagar in Tamil Nadu. Reddy told TNIE that the team of inspectors Anjanappa, Surya Prakash, Rangaswamaiah, Raghavendra Prakash, Shiva Shankar and PSI Annaiah, Keshavamurthy, Pradeep and others worked round the clock to nab the kidnappers. Till two days ago, although several persons were questioned, there were no definite clues whether it was a kidnap for ransom, business rivalry or any other issue, until they chanced upon the Ravi Pujari link.

Pursuing the angle, police succeeded in arresting Kaviraj. The remaining accused will be arrested soon as their locations have been identified, he said. Reddy said it was a kidnap for ransom, but the picture will be clear after all the accused are arrested. Kaviraj was produced before court and taken for further investigation. A native of Hosur, Kaviraj was active in Bengaluru and faced at least 10 cases.

NIGHT OF DRAMA

Prakash and his driver were severely injured after they were brutally attacked by a gang of eight kidnappers who demanded Rs 30 crore as ransom. Prakash approached Bellandur police on December 2, and in his complaint, alleged that on November 25, he and his driver Suneel left their farmhouse in Begli Hosahalli, for Kolar in his SUV. Around 7pm, eight men blocked his SUV, and threatened them with lethal weapons. They tied his legs and hands, and demanded Rs 39 crore and drove away his SUV.