Former K’taka Minister Reveals He Was Kidnapped Last Week, Released After Driver’s Escape Spooked Abductors

Former Karnataka minister Varthur Prakash filed a police complaint on Tuesday revealing he was kidnapped by unidentified persons and later released on November 25. In his complaint filed at the Bellandur police station, Prakash said that kidnappers had demanded a ransom of Rs 30 crore.

“I was traveling to Kolar city from my farmhouse in Kolar on November 25 with my driver. Around one kilometre from the farmhouse, unidentified people stopped my car with two cars, one each in the front and back of my car. They then asked me to step out of my car. When I refused, they pushed me and my driver to the backseat and drove off with us blindfolded,” said Prakash in his complaint.

The former minister in the Sadananda Gowda cabinet said he and his driver were tortured. “When we couldn’t bear it further, through one Mr Niyaz, I arranged for 48 lakh rupees the next day. They tortured us further demanding the rest of the amount. On November 28, my driver lost consciousness after being beaten up brutally. The kidnappers thought he had died and were drinking at a distance from him when he regained consciousness and escaped at around 1am,” Prakash added.

Prakash said the kidnappers were scared that the driver would inform the police and pushed him off a vehicle near Hosakote around 4am, following which he managed to reach his home and underwent treatment for his injuries.

The minister filed a complaint after Bellandur police station officials rang him up to inform him that his car had been found. An FIR has been filed at the station under sections 341, 342, 307, 364, 364A and 324.

Prakash was a two-time independent MLA from Kolar, winning in 2008 and 2013. He lost the 2018 assembly election.