A paediatrician working in the Ballari district hospital in Karnataka was on Saturday kidnapped and a ransom of Rs 6 crore was demanded of his brother, police said, adding that the kidnappers released the doctor hours later, giving him Rs 300 to return home.
Dr Sunil, 45, was on a morning walk near the Shaneshwara temple in Suryanarayanapet around 6 am when a gang arrived in a Tata Indigo car, forcefully got him into the vehicle and sped away, a police officer said. The entire act was caught on CCTV cameras, according to the police.
Dr Sunil’s brother Venugopal Gupta then received a WhatsApp call from his kidnappers. Gupta, who is president of the district liquor dealers’ association, was told to pay a ransom of Rs 6 crore and half the amount in the form of gold.
Gupta immediately informed the police. As part of search operations, the police blocked the exit points of the district. Around 8 pm, however, the kidnappers left the doctor in a remote place, handing him Rs 300 to take a bus to return home.
“Dr Sunil was in a state of shock. Our manhunt to nab the kidnappers is going on. At the same time, we are also trying to collect information from him. Given that his brother is in the liquor business, we are also looking into whether any business rivalry led to the kidnapping,” a police officer said.