Couple, son kidnapped from Bandipur resort, rescued from farmhouse in Vijayapura village

CHAMARAJANAGAR: The Gundlupet police have arrested four people for kidnapping a Bengaluru-based couple and their 7.5-year-old son in their own car from near a private resort in Bandipur. The police are on the lookout for three more people in the case. The family was being held hostage at a farmhouse at Honnahalli village in Vijayapura district.

The kidnapped couple and their son were rescued on Tuesday.

Police Superintendent B T Kavitha said the arrested are Mallikarjun, Eeranna, Siddaramaiah and Vishwanath while they are on the lookout for Puneeth Eerappa Dammal, Snehit and Bheemanagouda. The SP said the victims C J Nishanth, his wife Chandana and their son were rescued within 24 hours, based on a complaint from the resort manager. “They are being brought to Chamarajanagar. Since Nishanth had used a fake ID claiming to be a BBMP employee while checking into the Country Club resort, we will inform the civic body too”, she said.

Four people have been arrested while the police are on the lookout for three more.

The SP said the kidnapping was a result of a financial dispute between Nishanth and Puneeth and added that if they received any other complaints of cheating by Nishanth, they will register fresh cases. She added that the kidnappers had come in two cars.

The kidnappers arrived at the resort in a Maruti Dzire cab and kidnapped the family when they set out in their car.

Nishanth and his family had checked into the resort on Sunday and had set out in their Tata Altroz car around 10.30 am on Monday when they went missing from the Bandipur-Mangala road. Their luggage was, however, still at the resort, leading to suspicion that they may have been kidnapped.

One of the kidnappers at the lobby of the resort.

After SP Kavitha visited the spot, police teams fanned out to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Mysuru and other places and looked for the family all through the night.

After the family had headed out of the resort, the kidnappers, who had arrived from Bengaluru in a Maruti Swift and a Chevrolet car, checked to resort to confirm that Nishanth and his family were staying there, waited till the family headed out, waylaid them and kidnapped the family after breaking a window of the car.