Kalappa Handibag, deputy superintendent of police (DySP) of Chikkamagaluru Rural in Karnataka, committed suicide on Tuesday by hanging after he was suspended from duty for his alleged connection in the case of abduction and extortion of a financier.
Relatives of his wife, Vidya, claimed that Kallappa committed suicide around 8.30 a.m. when his wife was in the bathroom. He was subsequently rushed to the Muragod Primary Health Centre and then referred to KLE Hospital in Belagavi. However, doctors at the hospital declared him brought dead, as reported by the Hindu.
Handibag's suspension was issued after a departmental inquiry was ordered against him, following a complaint by 37-year-old resident of Kempanahalli, Thejas, who alleged that Kalappa was one of the six men who abducted him and tortured and extorted money from him.
As disclosed by Thejas in the FIR, he was picked up by a gang of six men around 2 a.m. on June 28 when he was parking the car near his house. He was shoved into a Scorpio (KA 20 N 3657) and taken to an old warehouse in Bengaluru, where he was thrashed by the gangsters who also demanded a ransom of Rs. 25 lakh.
The gangsters told Thejas that he was being punished for duping people through his chit fund business and cricket betting. Thejas negotiated the ransom down to Rs. 10 lakh and called his friend identified as Shivu or Pavan to follow the kidnapper's instructions and deliver the money.
Thejas's friend was then given a mobile number (9480805120) and a voice from the other line asked him to deliver the cash to the police quarters behind Mathias Tower on IG Road. Thejas was eventually freed.
DySP Handibag's role came to light after Thejas and his friend used the car's registration number and the mobile number to investigate the kidnapping. Thejas's friend also recorded the mobile conversation with Handibag, according to a report by the Times of India.
However, other perpetrators, identified as Abhijith, Naveen Shetty, Nataraja and Khandya Praveena, are still at large.
