Four manager-level employees of a private Bengaluru firm were kidnapped from Koramangala in the early hours of Saturday, prompting a dramatic police chase that ended with the rescue of all four victims and the arrest of eight accused.

The employees — Pawan, Rajveer, Akash and Anas — work for Global Telecom Connect Pvt. Ltd., a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company.

According to police, the incident unfolded around 1 am when the accused reached the call centre, posed as policemen, and summoned the employees downstairs.

Once outside, the men were threatened, forced into a Toyota Innova and a Maruti Suzuki WagonR, and driven away.

Investigators said the kidnappers initially demanded ₹25 lakh. The victims were coerced into transferring about ₹8.90 lakh from their operations manager’s account into four bank accounts belonging to the accused’s relatives.

Some reports suggest the amount transferred may have gone up to ₹18.90 lakh. Even after the online transfer, the gang continued to press for physical cash.

The kidnapping came to light after colleagues noticed the four missing and alerted police at around 4:30 am.

The digital money trail helped officers track the suspects. Four police teams were formed, and by 11 am, investigators traced the gang to a lodge in Hoskote, where the hostages were found unharmed.

DCP Fatima told reporters that all eight arrested men are aged between 27 and 30 and hail from Kolar district. Police suspect the gang may have exploited recent high-profile raids on call centres to impersonate police officers convincingly.

A case has been registered at the Koramangala police station, and further investigation is under way to determine the gang’s motives and possible links to the victims.