Bengaluru: A late-night airport pickup turned into a terrifying ordeal for a cab driver and his friend after they were allegedly kidnapped, assaulted, and robbed by a gang travelling in a Mercedes-Benz car on the city’s outskirts. Police said the clash was over a woman.According to a complaint filed by Mohammad Rafiq, 30, a resident of a hotel in Maruthinagar, Yelahanka, he is originally from Kerala and has been working in the city as a cab driver using a rented car for the last six months.On the night of May 21, his friend Deepak informed him that he was arriving in Bengaluru and requested to be picked up from the airport around 11pm. He reached the airport and picked up Deepak around 1am.While leaving the airport, Rafiq received a call from an unknown number asking for a ride. When he asked the caller to book the ride through the aggregator instead, the caller insisted on being picked up personally. He refused and disconnected the call, Rafiq claimed.While approaching Begur around 1.15am, a white Mercedes-Benz car allegedly overtook and blocked the complainant’s vehicle. Five or six men got down from the car, brandished knives and sticks, dragged Rafiq out and forced him into the Benz. The gang allegedly snatched his mobile phone and Rs 21,000 in cash before driving towards the city. On the way, they allegedly forced him to call his friends, telling him to claim he had met with an accident. As they stopped the car in a deserted place, Rafiq called his friend Jabir.Acting on the call, Jabir arrived at the shared location, only to be threatened at knifepoint and with iron rods, and was forcibly taken by the gang to an empty site along with Rafiq.The gang assaulted both victims. Rafiq managed to escape from them and reach his room by taking an autorickshaw. He took his friend Siddiq’s phone and called police helpline 112 and informed them of the incident around 5am. He provided Jabir’s number, requesting police to rescue him.Sampigehalli police contacted Rafiq and informed him that they had found Jabir. Rafiq and Siddiq rushed to the station to find him injured in his ear. Jabir explained that the gang attacked him with a knife and robbed him of his mobile phone. Jabir was rushed to the Yelahanka govt hospital for treatment. Later, Rafiq filed a complaint with the Bagalur police, who registered a case under BNS Sections 137 (kidnap) and 310 (dacoity).A senior officer said, “The attackers and the complainant are unknown to each other. We have found that the clash between them was over a woman. So, they assaulted and robbed Rafiq and Jabir. A few suspects have been detained and subjected to questioning.”
