A Hyderabad-based video jockey was kidnapped by a businesswoman after she came across an impersonator using his photo on a matrimonial website. The cops said she was an "intimacy-seeking stalker" who went to the extent of fitting a tracking device on his car and hired kidnappers to carry out the job.
Bhogireddy Trishna, who ran a digital marketing business, was arrested along with five others after Pranav Sistla, 27, went to the cops with a kidnapping complaint.
Two years ago, she came across a profile on Bharat Matrimony that used Mr Sistla photos. She chatted with the impersonator, who was identified as Chaitanya Reddy, until she realized it was not a genuine account.
She then contacted Mr Sistla, who worked as an anchor at a music channel, on WhatsApp and was told someone had created his fake account using his photo. He also informed her that he had lodged a police complaint, but she continued messaging him. This led Mr Sistla to block her number, police said.
The saga could have ended there, but the woman was determined to stay in touch with the video jockey. Believing she could sort it out, she planned to kidnap him and tasked a man working in her office to carry out the job for Rs 50,000. They also fitted an AirTag to his car to monitor his movements, which was later recovered by the cops.
The man hired four others and kidnapped Ms Sistla on February 11 on the pretext that the impersonator had collected some money from Ms Trishna.
They thrashed him and took him to the woman's office. She let him go only after he agreed to respond to her calls, police said. Once freed, he went straight to the Uppal police station and filed a complaint, leading to the arrest of the woman and the five kidnappers.
Speaking to NDTV, Election Reddy, Station House Officer at Uppal Police Station, said as of now they don't have any evidence of cheating involving Rs 40 lakh, which is being reported by a section of media.
