Demonetisation forces kidnappers to go cashless in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur

Jaipur: Demonetisation has forced even kidnappers to go cashless in Rajasthan.

In a first of its kind case, the criminals of the Mewat region took two rice traders of Karnataka hostage and then asked their family members to deposit money in a bank account.

Kidnapers usually accept ransom in cash because it doesn’t leave a paper trail, but since the victims didn’t have any cash with them, they asked their family members to deposit the money in a bank account. The police have now seized the account and launched an investigation.

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The incident occurred in Govardhan area, some 40 km from Bharatpur. Through the area is under the jurisdiction of Uttar Pradesh police, the police of Bharatpur and Alwar districts joined the probe because the criminals are suspected to be from Rajasthan’s Mewat region. The bank account in which the ransom money was deposited is with a private bank in Alwar.

It is suspected that the kidnappers are criminals from Bharatpur who usually defraud people by selling fake gold bricks. Since demonetisation badly affected their ‘trade’, they took to kidnapping, the police suspect.

Criminals asked the two traders– identified as Muralidhar V. Kamat and Venkatachala – to come to Govardhan on the pretext that they would buy rice.

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When the traders arrived there, the criminals took them hostage and robbed them of their money and other valuables. They then called up the family members and asked them to deposit Rs 2 lakh in a bank account. The kidnappers released the traders after receiving the ransom.

The police have put the HDFC bank account in which the ransom was deposited under scanner. It is in the name of one Arshad in Alwar.