The Erode police on Sunday arrested nine persons for kidnapping and holding hostage three persons near Sathyamangalam.
The police said Ranjithkumar and Prem, reportedly a functionary of Hindu mahasanbha in Coimbatore, recently contacted Mohan, who is into antique business in Chennai, and invited him to Sathyamangalam to talk business on certain antique items. Mohan, along with driver and his friend Rahman reached Sathyamangalam on January 7.
An unidentified gang posing as policemen kidnapped the trio and held them hostage at a farm house at Gandhi nagar in Sathyamangalam. The gang demanded a ransom of ₹5 crore from Mohan’s wife to release him. Vidhya transferred ₹21 lakh in three transactions to the account of one Ramesh from Dharmapuri.
Later, Vidhya complained at the Sathyamangalam police station and a special team rescued Mohan and others. The police arrested nine persons and recovered ₹9 lakh, 16 sovereigns gold jewellery and three cars. The accused were remanded and the police are on the lookout for six more persons involved in the crime.
According to the police, the gang has been involved in duping many people. Further investigations are on.
