Vijayawada: A former driver and four of his accomplices kidnapped a doctor to earn quick money but ended up behind bars, in Vijayawada.

Presenting the accused before the media here on Sunday, the Vijayawada police said Kaki Vidyasagar was employed as a driver with noted diabetologist Malempati Venkateshwara Rao for sometime during 2016. He, however, quit the job as driver. He hatched a plan to kidnap the doctor and demand ransom money from his family. He recruited three of his friends - M Ranjit Kumar, D Naga Dileep and M Banerjee - to execute the plan. They hired a woman to befriend the doctor. The woman was instructed to act as a patient, befriend the doctor and gain his confidence. As per their instructions, the woman also began regular phone conversations with the doctor. In this regard, she made a call to the doctor and invited him for a seminar on "Woman Empowerment".

The unsuspecting Venkateshwara Rao reached Ramavarapadu ring road on June 28 at 3 pm to be picked up for the seminar. He was picked up the woman and Banerjee and taken to a vacant flat in Narayanapuram colony. On the pretext of refreshments, he was given soft drinks laced with sedatives. On June 29, they called the doctor's son Rajesh and demanded Rs 30 lakh.

However, Rajesh promptly informed the Machavaram police. The latter formed special teams and traced the several calls made by the kidnappers to Rajesh. All the five accused including the woman were nabbed by the police.