‘Pay or else…’: Bengaluru car rental company threatens students with knife and extorts thousands from them

Representative image: car rental company in Bengaluru threatens five students

Photo: iStock

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

1. The one-day trip of five students to Madikeri in a self-driving car turned out to be a harrowing experience.
2. The rental company alleged that the students had exceeded the speed limit of 100 kmph around 120 times, attacked them and extorted Rs 50,000 and a laptop from them.
3. Chandra Layout police arrested three persons.

Bengaluru: The one-day trip of five students to Madikeri in a self-driving car turned into a harrowing experience when the rental company alleged that the students had exceeded the 100 kmph speed limit around 120 times, attacked them and extorted Rs 50,000 and a laptop from them . After a complaint was filed by one of the students, a fifth semester BBA student from Mathikere, the Chandra Layout police arrested three persons identified as Vinod, Shashank and Nithin.

According to a Times of India report, the student and his four fellow students had planned a one-day trip to Madikeri on Sunday, November 17. On November 16, he called a number to rent a car. Pratham alias Appu answered the call and instructed him to contact Vinod. Vinod informed the student that the rental charges for the vehicle would be Rs 2,500 per day, with another Rs 500 as commission.

He paid the commission of Rs 500 through a digital payment request to confirm the booking. Vinod then shared Nithin’s contact number, who forwarded the location for vehicle pick-up. The student and his friend went to pick up a Kia Sonet. Nithin told them that if the students exceeded the speed limit of 100 kmph, they would be fined up to Rs 1,200 per violation. As a guarantee, Nithin also took the student’s laptop, the report said.

The TOI report stated that the friends left Mathikere around 2am on Sunday and returned around 6pm. They met Vinod to return the SUV at 80 Feet Road in Chandra Layout. Vinod then took the student and his friend to Manjunath Enterprises in Maruthinagar, Nagrabhavi, to inspect the condition of the rented vehicle.

At the office, four persons, including Shashank, examined the vehicle. They accused him of exceeding the speed limit 120 times and demanded a fine of Rs 1.2 lakh. When the student asked for challans or proof of violations, they showed him only three screenshots and refused to provide additional evidence.

After about 20 minutes, Nithin and another person arrived at the spot and insisted that the duo pay up and leave. They locked the student and his friend in the office, threatened to stab them with a knife and physically assaulted the student. In a panic, he called his sister and friends and managed to borrow Rs 35,000. One of the suspects took him to a mobile phone store, had him scan a QR code and transfer the amount. The shopkeeper then handed the money to the suspect.

Later, the student’s friend was forced to transfer Rs 15,000 to the same QR code. The student tried to transfer another Rs 25,000 borrowed from his friends but failed. Ultimately, the student and his other three friends, who had been traveling, were called to the office and also received death threats. The gang released his friends around 10:30 PM but continued to harass him until 11:30 PM.

The TOI report stated that two gang members then took him to his house in another SUV and warned him not to file a police complaint. Later that evening, around 12.40 pm, the gang called him and demanded that he transfer Rs 25,000 to a mobile number through a digital payment app. However, the transaction failed.

Getting scared, he approached his uncle and with his help filed a complaint on November 18. Police arrested the trio and recovered Rs 30,000 and a laptop. They were charged under IPC sections 115 (voluntarily causing hurt), 127 (wrongful confinement), 308 (extortion) and 351 (criminal intimidation).

Efforts are on to take action against the other two accused, the TOI report said. A senior police officer revealed that the students had exceeded the speed limit only three times, and the accused wrongly blamed them for extorting money, the TOI report said.

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