Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (RJP)

Bengaluru, Apr 29: Passengers of private bus from Bengaluru to Kerala were in for a shock on Friday night when four men waylaid them, claiming to be policemen, and demanded they search the bus. They even kept the passengers as hostages for many hours until real police personnel came and rescued them.

The incident occurred on Mysore Road near RV College here.

The bus operated by Lama Travels with KA01AG636 registration number, had started from Kalasipalyam at around 9 .45 pm with 42 passengers on board. The four men who came on two bikes posed as policemen and told the bus driver that they wanted to inspect the contents of the bus. Subsequently they directed the bus to a nearby godown.

The passengers were kept as hostages for more than 6 hours. When they complained that they should be let off, the ‘fake’ police refused. The passengers also threatened that they would call police. But the men did not budge. At that time one of the passengers indeed phoned the police and real police rushed to the spot.

But before that the fake police had ran away from the spot. A passenger said though four people took the bus to the godown, there were 6-7 people working with them in the godown. .

A case stands registered at the Rajarajeshwari Nagar Police Station.

Four persons connected to the crime were arrested under section 341 (wrongful restraint) of IPC. Others are yet to be arrested.

As per police, Naushad, the owner of the bus had availed a loan from a private finance company. As the instalments were not paid on time, the finance company hired recovery agents to recover the money. And they employed this tactic to get the money from the bus owner.

Lama Travels operates buses between Bengaluru and Kerala.

In December last year, lama Travels was in the news when three persons, including a woman, were killed in Kerala’s Kannur after one of their buses fell into the Mayyazhi River.