A group of seven young men kidnapped a Tambaram-based businessman on Friday morning, only to be arrested later in the night. The businessman, whose assets include agricultural land other commercial establishments reported to be worth several crores of rupees, was let off by the suspects who realised they could no longer remain on the run.
Selaiyur police said Babu Naidu from Pathuvanchery Village in Madambakkam, was a resident of Sundaram Colony, Camp Road. He left home early on Friday and was at his plot of agricultural land in Pathuvanchery when a sports utility vehicle reached the spot. A group of men emerged from the vehicle and bundled Babu into the vehicle and sped away. Apparently, there were no eye-witnesses to the kidnap.
The vehicle, a Mahindra Xylo, travelled to Wandavasi and then to Villupuram, from where the suspects called Babu’s home a little past noon. Mohinder, the son of Babu, got in touch with the suspects over mobile phone and also informed the police.
The suspects demanded a ransom of Rs. 1 crore and asked Mohinder to come alone to Chengalpattu railway station with the initial amount of Rs. 25 lakh. However, even before the sum could be handed over, police were able to trace the location of the SUV at Pukkathurai on Grand Southern Trunk road.
Kancheepuram district police were also coordinating with the Chennai City Police. The suspects who realised that the police were pursuing them abandoned their vehicle at Manamathy Village and left by foot abandoning Babu at the spot. Babu contacted his relatives and friends and managed to return home.
Police continued the hunt for the suspects and managed to nab them by early morning on Saturday following a tip-off about their location from an acquaintance of one of the suspects. Police said Shyam Franklin (30), working in a security agency along with R. Sundar and C. Johnson, both 28 years old, hatched the plan to kidnap Babu. They were helped by Suresh Kumar (30) of Velachery, a driver and S. Elumalai (22), a driver from Tiruvannamalai.
Two more men – A. Premkumar and N. Dinesh Kumar, both 28 years old, were also part of the conspiracy. All 7 of them were arrested. But for Kumar and Elumalai, the 5 others also hailed from Babu’s ancestral village of Pathuvanchery While the exact motive behind the kidnapping attempt is still being ascertained, police hinted the suspects might not have been satisfied with the commission given by Babu on the completion of a recent land transaction.
