Shastri Nagar police on Wednesday arrested three persons on charges of kidnapping a college girl student from Adyar, who was reported missing while on her way home from college, and was non traceable from Monday evening to Tuesday morning. Police are also probing the involvement of a person acquainted with the girl in the abduction.
The 21-year-old college girl who went missing on Monday evening from Shastri Nagar, Adyar was reported to have been rescued the next day by a police team.
Sources with the Shastri Nagar police said the fourth year student of engineering, was walking home around 4 p.m. on Monday when four men forced her into a car and sped away. “The girl’s father who is a businessman and a realtor residing in Shastri Nagar had contacted the police on Monday night after his daughter did not return home from college. He later stated on receiving a phone call from the abductors asking for a ransom of Rs. 10 lakh,” said an investigating officer.
A police team tracked the movements of the gang members, later identified as Palanisamy (29), a collection agent with a private insurance firm in T Nagar and his friends Lokanathan (27), a construction worker, Rajamani (26), a two-wheeler mechanic and Murugan (24), a cab driver, using the victim’s mobile phone. “The girl is a diabetic and is said to have collapsed in the custody of the four men at their hideout in Pallavaram. Following which one of the suspects came to buy medicines for her at a pharmacy in Ramapuram but was nabbed by police in the early hours of Tuesday,” the officer added.
He then led police to rest of the gang. However, Murugan managed to escape when the police team arrived. The woman was rescued and given medical assistance. Palanisamy, Loganathan and Rajamani were arrested and charged with kidnap and the car used to facilitate the crime was seized. The men were remanded in custody on Wednesday and sent to Puzhal prison. While a hunt is on for Murugan, investigators are also probing on whether the victim’s friend had a role in the alleged kidnap for ransom.
