Hostage Indian Engineer Freed in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(HaberTürk Newspaper, 7 December 2017)


                Reality TV gets a bit too real.

Mechanical engineer S.S. (25), the son of a high-level Indian bureaucrat,
came to Istanbul as a tourist on 18 October, at the recommendation of
a friend.  The friend brought S.S. to the home of her Indian boyfriend
Ravinder S. in Esenyurt.  S.S. decided to stay in Turkey for a while so
Ravinder S. introduced S.S. to a Pakistani named Adnan S. who he
said could help S.S. find items for his new place.

On 30 November, Adnan S. invited S.S. to come to a house in Arnavutköy
on the pretext of showing him household items.  However, in the basement
of the house three other Pakistanis - Kamer A., İmran A. and Tarık M. -
beat up S.S. and bound his hands and feet.  Concurrently, Ravinder S.
called S.S.'s family and demanded a ransom of 550,000 Indian rupees
(about $84,000). 

When S.S.'s relative didn't believe (!) that he had been kidnapped, the
gang made a video call to the family showing them torturing S.S.,
with Ravinder S. declaring "if they don't believe us now, let them see
you cut off his fingers." 

S.S.'s family contacted the Istanbul police via the Indian consulate in
Istanbul on 1 December.  The police traced the gang to a phone booth
in Arnavutköy, 70 meters from the house where S.S. was being held
hostage.  Six hours after the family contacted police the house was raided
and S.S. was rescued.  The 4 Pakistanis at the house were taken into
custody and Indian Ravinder S. was arrested in Esenler.


                 Arnavutköy is at upper right.