Kalmane Nataraj, one of the accused in the kidnap-for-ransom case, has blamed Tejas Gowda for the suicide of police officer Kallappa Handibag. Tejas Gowda was never kidnapped, but he created the story of kidnap to target him (Nataraj) and the police officer, Nataraj told presspersons here on Thursday. He along with other accused appeared for a court hearing in the city.
Tejas Gowda had taken to cricket betting, besides running a gambling den. “He had lured me into betting and made me invest huge money. He owed me nearly Rs.25 lakh. Kallappa Handibag was well aware of his activities and also warned him several times. He tried to hit both of us in one shot”, Nataraj said.
According to Nataraj, nobody was kidnapped. Tejas Gowda had voluntarily travelled with one of his friends, Abhishek, to Bengaluru. “As he wanted to take revenge against the officer, who had conducted raids on his gambling place in the past, and fix me in a case, he created the kidnap theory. He recorded the telephonic conversation with the police officer and filed the complaint, which led to Handibag’s suicide.”
Tejas Gowda was allegedly kidnapped by Nataraj and a few others including Praveen Khandya, a pro-Hindu activist, for a ransom in June this year. He was released only after Rs. 10 lakh was paid to the police officer. Based on a complaint filed by Tejas Gowda, Chikkamagaluru police had registered the kidnap-for-ransom case against 10 people including Kallappa Handibag. The officer committed suicide at Mudgod in Belgavi on July 5.
