Gang of seven held for kidnapping three persons in Tiruppur

Tiruppur District (Rural) Police on Wednesday arrested seven persons on charges of kidnapping for ransom near Mangalam in the district.

The police said that R. Prakash (33), S. Manoj (26), and K. Prabhakaran (30) of Tiruppur and A. Masanam of Madurai were known to each other. On Tuesday, when they were playing cards at Maruthi Nagar, near Mangalam, Masanam engaged in a wordy quarrel with the other three claiming that Prakash had allegedly cheated him eight months ago, and demanded his money back.

At this juncture, Masanam called his friends A. Maruthapandi (22), P. Duraipandu (22), P. Muthuraja(25), R. Bharath Kumar ( 25), S. Mahesh and N. Manikandan (31) to Maruthi Nagar. The seven-member gang kidnapped Prakash, Manoj, and Prabhakaran. The gang took them to the rented accommodation of Masanam and assaulted them. The gang allegedly took a video of the victims after forcibly removing their clothes, said the police.

Later, they released the victims and demanded ₹ 5 lakh ransom by threatening to release the video on social media. The victims lodged a complaint with the Palladam police. A special team of the Palladam police arrested all seven members on Wednesday and they were remanded in judicial custody, said the police.