Bengaluru trainer kidnapped by fake Crime Branch officers, extorted ₹5L
India
Five men in Bengaluru were arrested after pretending to be Central Crime Branch officers and kidnapping a 25-year-old gym trainer named Mithul.
They threatened to frame him for drug charges unless he paid ₹500,000, even stopping near a police station to make their act look real.
Mithul was released after promising the money and quickly filed a police complaint.
CCTV leads trace suspects, 5 charged
Investigators tracked the suspects using CCTV footage and technical clues. Turns out, they'd tried something similar just days later but ran off when their target called the police helpline.
All five face charges of impersonation, extortion, and criminal intimidation, while police are still looking for an accomplice who tipped them off about Mithul.