A seven-year kid was kidnapped by a family acquaintance in a bid to extort money from her uncle who recently won INR 50 lakh in Goa casino. As first reported by the Indian Express, the victim’s uncle who recently visited Goa, reportedly won INR 50 lakh at a casino. Bheerappa, who accompanied the victim’s uncle in Goa, hatched a plan to extort the amount by kidnapping the victim. The incident occurred in Karnataka’s Bagalkot district.

The accused abducted the girl while she was returning home from tuition classes at 7 pm on October 27. As the mother of the girl started searching, the victim’s uncle started receiving ransom calls. Soon the family filed a police complaint at 10 pm on the day of the abduction. Police found that the culprits were using multiple SIM cards to make ransom calls.

Police identified the local SIM card dealer who sold the SIM cards and questioned him who led the cops to the accused. Thereafter, police laid a trap and arrested 4 accused on October 29, when the latter came to drop the child and pick up the ransom amount near a park in Bagalkot. Another accomplice, identified as Vishwanath, who was on the run, was arrested on Monday (Nov 1). The four persons who were arrested on October 29 have been identified as Bheerappa, Praphulla, Eeranna, and Krishna, all of whom worked as cab drivers.

“Within 18 hours of the abduction, the girl was rescued and the accused were arrested. The police team probing the case has been rewarded with Rs 25,000 for its efforts.” Lokesh B Jagalasar, the superintendent of police, Bagalkot district, was quoted by Indian Express.