Ex-MLA kidnapping: Elusive accused held

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: A 31-year-old rowdy sheeter, who was part of the gang that had kidnapped former MLA Varthur Prakash and absconded for over a year, was arrested by the Indiranagar police on Saturday. He was shot on his leg for resisting arrest.

The police have identified the accused as Lohith alias Rohith, a rowdy sheeter at HSR Layout and Bannerghatta police stations.

Prakash, a former MLA from Kolar, and his driver were kidnapped on November 25 last year near his farm house in Kolar. He was later freed after Rs 48 lakh was paid as ransom. The gang had freed the politician and his driver at different parts of the city and escaped. Prakash was pushed out of the car near K.R. Puram area.

While the policemen attached to the Central Range had later arrested six kidnappers, including two students, Lohith remained at large. The police team had travelled to Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, but were unable to track him down.

On Saturday at around 5.15 am, the police got a tip off that Lohith was near Challaghatta. The team of policemen rushed to arrest him and had to open a round of fire after he attacked a policeman.

In another case, Lohith, along with his associates, had kidnapped an autorickshaw driver over a financial row and later murdered him on the city outskirts near Hosur. A case against Lohith was registered at Halasuru police station. The police had arrested nine accused and were on the lookout for Lohith.