The Hindu

• Abductors confined hostage to a house in Neelasandra ACP posed as autorickshaw driver and laid the trap for abductors on Sarjapur Road 

Bangalore, Nov 2: Two persons, part of a six-member gang that had kidnapped a real estate agent, were killed in an encounter with the police on Sarjapur Road in Koramangala in the early hours of Wednesday.

The two were identified as Gaffoor (32) and Goru (30), both residents of Medi Mallasandra village in Hoskote taluk.

The police said they were successful in rescuing the real estate agent Nasir Khan, who was kidnapped from near his house at Hoskote in Bangalore Rural district on October 24.

The kidnappers had demanded a ransom of Rs. 2 crore for his release.

 Saved from the Jaws of Death:  Nasir Khan being produced at a press conference in Bangalore on Wednesday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

As his family did not pay the ransom, the abductors had planned to kill Mr. Khan and dump his body at the Kaigondanahalli tank on Sarjapur Road, the police said.

After Mr. Khan was kidnapped, his family members lodged a complaint with the Hoskote police.

Subsequently, when they approached the city's Central Crime Branch (CCB), the Organised Crime Prevention Wing of the CCB, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police B.K. Shivaram, swung into action.

The CCB team tracked down Tippu, one of the alleged kidnappers, on the basis of a telephone call he had made to Mr. Khan's house. Tippu told the police that Mr. Khan was held captive at a house in Neelasandra. The house belonged to a relative of Mastan, who was also involved in the kidnapping, the police said.

The police team rushed to the Neelasandra house on Tuesday night and found Mr. Khan tied to a cot.

He had suffered injuries on the face, chest and shoulders. Even as the police were rescuing him, Tippu got a call from Gaffoor on his mobile phone.

Gaffoor asked Tippu and Mastan to bring Nasir near Kaigondanahalli tank in an autorickshaw, the police said.

The kidnappers were upset that Mr. Khan's family had refused to pay the ransom of Rs. 2 crore, which was subsequently reduced to Rs. 85 lakh. The gang thus planned to murder him, the police said.

To catch the other kidnappers, a team led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) B.R. Ravikanthe Gowda, went near Kaigondanahalli tank in the early hours of Wednesday.

Posing as driver, Mr. Shivaram drove the autorickshaw. Mr. Gowda and inspectors Nanjunde Gowda and Revanna accompanied him. On reaching the Sarjapur Road around 3 a.m., the police team noticed a car coming towards them.

Gaffoor and Goru got down from the car and asked Tippu to bring Mr. Khan to their car. However, on finding that the occupants of the autorickshaw were policemen, Gaffoor opened fire with his revolver, Commissioner of Police Neelam Achuta Rao said. When the police fired in retaliation, Gaffoor was killed instantaneously and Goru was injured. He later died at a private hospital, Mr. Achuta Rao said.

The police said Gaffoor and his accomplices were involved in 26 cases of extortion and robbery in the city and Bangalore Rural district. The police, who have arrested Tippu and Mastan, are on the lookout for the other two accused.