The news of YSR Congress Party Lok Sabha MP M.V.V. Satyanarayana’s wife Jyothi, son Sarat Chowdary, and auditor G. Venkateswara Rao’s kidnap shocked the locals.
The MP’s son was held hostage in his own house for more than 48 hours, and Ms. Jyothi and the auditor were confined to the same house for almost a day, said the police on Thursday.
Giving the details of the kidnap, Commissioner of Police C.M. Trivikrama Varma said that Mr. Sarat lived alone in his house at Rushikonda and on Tuesday (June 13), a group of six miscreants, led by rowdy-sheeter Hemanth Kumar, gained easy entry into the house as it lacked security.
The miscreants forcibly confined Mr. Sarat to his house and demanded ₹50 crore in ransom, and he reportedly told them that he only had ₹15 lakh with him.
After almost a day, the miscreants forced Mr. Sarat to call his mother and ask her to come to the house. When she reached, the miscreants held her hostage too.
Mr. Satyanarayana was in Hyderabad during this time and was unaware of the kidnap, said the police.
After coming to know that the MP was not in town, the kidnapper gang allegedly made Mr. Sarat and his mother summon the MP’s auditor and close aide, G. Venkateswara Rao who was also held hostage by the gang as soon as he reached the house.
The gang allegedly made several attempts to extract cash from the three.
As per the police, the gang had also tortured Mr. Sarat for money.
On Thursday morning, however, Mr. Satyanarayana called the Commissioner to inform him that his auditor was not answering his phone calls and that it looked suspicious.
Following instructions from the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP-Zone II) K. Anand Reddy called the auditor on his mobile.
Even though the auditor picked up his call, he gave vague replies as his phone was being monitored by the kidnappers. This made the DCP suspiscious.
“We grew suspicious as he was giving vague replies saying that he was somewhere near Srikakulam. The kidnappers were making him say so,” said the Commissioner.
By then, we traced the auditor’s call to Mr. Sarat’s house and learnt that Mr. Sarat and his mother were also in their custody.
The MP called us around 8 a.m., and we immediately began monitoring the GPS of the auditor’s phone. But, when the auditor received a call from the DCP, the kidnappers got suspicious and started moving around the city in a car with their three hostages.
However, by then, the police had already formed 17 special teams involving two DCPs and four ACPs. The police teams finally nabbed the three kidnappers, including kingpin Hemanth Kumar, found in the car near Sontyam.
The gang had six members of which we arrested three, including Hemanth. Hunt is on for the rest, said the Commissioner. The police also found that Mr. Venkateswara Rao had paid ₹1.75 crore to the kidnappers.
Mr. Trivikrama Varma said that Hemanth Kumar was recently released on bail from Visakhapatnam Central Jail, has a rowdy sheet on his name at Bheemunipatnam police station, and was also involved in two cases of kidnap and one murder case.