Police rescue abducted boy from lodge in Andhra Pradesh

Within 48 hours after the abduction of a 14-year-old boy from outside his school at Ayanavaram here, police teams rescued him from a lodge in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh.

Two of the abductors, an LIC agent and a financier, were rounded up, while three others are on the run. The suspects were allegedly cheated of a large sum of money by the boy’s father, who ran a finance firm.

Speaking to

The Hindu on Wednesday evening, the boy, Jacob Sudir, said around 9.30 a.m. on Monday he was pulled into a car by a man while he was walking towards his school in Railway Colony, close to his residence. “There were three men in the car who told me they were taking me to my father. After we travelled a few km, two more men got in. Then, we drove for a long time.”

Sudir’s mother Lidiya came to the school during lunch hour and realised her son was missing. After a brief search, she lodged a complaint with the ICF police, who formed three teams and launched a hunt.

“We found out that the abductors had repeatedly threatened the boy’s father, Suresh Babu, and finally resorted to kidnapping,” said K. Bhavaneeswari, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kilpauk.

The suspects, identified as Nellore residents Mallikarjuna, a financier; Mohan, a fancy store owner; and his friend Anil, an electrician, abducted the boy in the car of their accomplice, Nageshwara Rao. It had an Andhra Pradesh registration number. Rao and Premraj joined them and hid the boy in a lodge at Podili town with Rao guarding him.

The investigating team tracked the registration number of the car and reached Podili on Tuesday night. Following raids on lodges in the area early next morning, the police team rescued Sudir from a room and arrested Nageshwara Rao. With information obtained from him, Mallikarjuna was nabbed in Nellore and the car used for the abduction seized.

A hunt is on for Premraj, Anil and Mohan, sources with the investigating team said.

Police brought Sudir to Chennai on Wednesday evening and reunited him with his family. “His abductors treated him well,” said S. George, Commissioner of Police.