Five persons were arrested on the charges of abducting a leading financier at Oddanchatram here on Sunday.
The arrested were A. Muralidharan (29), Thanga Pandi (20), P. Kalaiselvan (23) of Suraikaipatti, P. Dinesh Pandi (28) of Pannaipatti and M. Arjun (22) Kannivadi.
The police said that a 12-member gang abducted the financier and cinema theatre owner P. Arunachalam for a ransom in the car owned by Muralidharan. The police are in search of seven more persons. It was their first attempt and the car used for the abduction was also seized.
The gang had tied his hands and legs and dumped him near a drainage canal in Batlagundu. A CCTV camera in a house near the spot recorded the car.
First, the police secured Muralidharan with his car registration number. Acting on information, they secured the other accused also.
An unidentified gang had abducted Mr. Arunachalam on Tuesday while he was returning home at night.
But the financier had returned home on Thursday. He informed the police that the gang covered his eyes with a piece of cloth, took him to Batlagundu and coerced him for cash. When he stated that he did not have cash to offer, the gang members beat him severely and snatched nine sovereigns of gold chain. Later, they threw him out of the car on Nilakottai-Batlagndu main road and fled.
