SHIVAMOGGA: The Hosamane police in Bhadravathi have busted a honeytrap gang with the arrest of five people, including a woman. The police have seized a Renault Duster SUV and seven mobile phones from them.
The arrested are Shwetha of Mysuru, and Vinayak, Mahesh, Yellappa and Arun Kumar from Hubballi. They were arrested based on a complaint from Sharath, a resident of Bhadravathi, who works at a petrol bunk.
According to the police, Sharath met Shwetha on a bus while travelling from Bhadravathi to Mysuru a few months ago and they exchanged their phone numbers. A few days later, Shwetha made a WhatsApp call to Sharath while posing in the nude. With that video, she demanded Rs 20 lakh from him.
The gang had extorted Rs 1 lakh from Sharath after threatening him. Later, they started demanding more money from him. The gang travelled to Shivamogga from Mysuru and asked Sharath to meet them at a hotel. They then bundled him into a car and took him to Mysuru. On the way, they forced Sharath to sign a bond paper that he had taken Rs 25 lakh as loan from Shwetha. The gang kept him locked up for two days and even assaulted him, police said.
Sharath somehow managed to escape from captivity and returned to Bhadravathi after which he lodged a complaint with the Hosamane police.