In an incident where reel world inspired real world scenario, a Hyderabad man who was inspired by Netflix’s heist-drama ‘’Money-Heist’, was arrested for recruiting gang members to kidnap people. The police claimed that the man had recruited four gang-members, including a woman, to kidnap people from their own networks and seek ransom as high as Rs 8 lakhs for their freedom.
The accused was identified as 27-year-old Suresh, who was inspired by Money Heist character ‘Professor’. In the show, Professor recruits a gang of misfits to who carries out millions of dollars worth of heists.
According to police, the real-world kidnapping gang used to target a known person from their groups, and ask the person to meet them at a particular place. The gang used to kidnap the said person from the spot. Interestingly, the gang also wore the same masks as characters from Money Heist wore.
The Facts of the Matter
The Hyderabad police recently busted a kidnapping gang that comprised of four members. The members were recruited by Suresh, who reportedly was inspired by Spanish heist-drama Money Heist. Much akin to Professor, who in the show recruited and trained a gang of misfits to commit high-profile crimes, Suresh recruited the 4 people and pushed them into kidnapping and seeking extortion.
According to the Hyderabad police, the light was shed on the case when the police received a complaint from a woman. The woman had alleged that her younger son was kidnapped and a ransom was sought for his freedom.
On registering the woman’s complaint on February 6, the police were shocked to see that there was a connection to her complaint and recent few cases of abduction that had emerged. In fact, it was the sixth incident that was reported in Hyderabad with the similar modus operandi.
Accused Took Role of ‘Professor’, Gave Role of Tokyo, Berlin & More to Gang
27-year-old Suresh was employed as a driver, but wanted to make a quick buck. Inspired by the Netflix show Money Heist, he took on the role of Professor, and recruited four more people in this kidnapping and extortion gang. This group also included a woman.
The recruits were identified as Rohit, Jagadish, Kunal and Swetha. It should be noted that the four recruits had a history of committing crimes in the past to.
According to a New Indian Express report, Suresh was influenced with Money Heist to such an extent that he started calling his gang-members as Berlin, Tokyo, Rio, and Nairobi, like Professor did in the show.
The Modus Operandi of the Hyderabadi Money Heist Gang
With his new gang, Suresh hatched a conspiracy to abduct people who were close to his recruits, including their family members. The police also stated that the gang’s six victims were all from the friend-circle Suresh Had.
According to reports, the gang first used the female recruit to approach the victim. The woman used to successfully gain the trust of her victim and used to lure them to a particular place.
Accused Wore ‘Money Heist’ Masks
When the victim reached that spot, the gang-leader Suresh, and his gang overpowered the victim and would kidnap them. Interestingly, the gang wore masks as Money Heist character wore during the show’s run.
Later the primary accused used to call the family members of the victim through the victim’s own mobile. To avoid any technical surveillance, including location tracking, the accused used to make the ransom call from the social media apps.
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Ransom Ranged from Rs. 50k to Rs 8 Lakhs
On receiving the ransom amount, the gang used to threaten the victim of killing them if they ever raised an alarm or called the police. This is how the gang kidnapped six of its victims. According to a New Indian Express report, the gang demanded ransom that ranged from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 8 lakhs. The gang’s last victim, 19-year-old youth, was abducted for a ransom of Rs. 50,000.
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