Youth kidnapped from airport, rescued from gang in Cuddalore

The victim, Thanigavel from Cuddalore, is an employee of a private firm in Singapore. On Wednesday night, he informed his father Kaliyamoorthy that he had boarded the flight. He was to reach Cuddalore early in the morning.

But when Kaliyamoorthy tried to reach his mobile phone, it was switched off. A few hours later, he received a call from an unknown caller. The man claimed that Thanigavel was given gold chains weighing 30 sovereigns which he was supposed to hand over to man at the airport here. But he failed to do so, and was hence kidnapped.

The said Thanigavel would be released only after paying Rs 10 lakh. Kaliyamoorthy approached the Cuddalore police, who asked him to file a complaint with the Chennai airport police station. The complaint was filed on Friday morning.

The special team traced the mobile phone using tower location and found that the kidnappers were near Cuddalore, and went there with Kaliyamoorthy on Friday. When the gang contacted again, he told them that the money has been arranged.

When the kidnappers told him to place the cash in a bag near the Amman temple in Keerapalaiyam, police directed Kaliyamoorthy to place an empty bag at the spot. A few minutes later, a man on a two-wheeler came to collect the cash. The personnel surrounded him and immediately snatched his mobile phone.

Based on the information he provided, the police arrested a group which was waiting in a car in Cuddalore on Saturday morning. Thanigavel who was in the car was rescued. Police took all the accused to an undisclosed place for further inquiry.

The ICF police thwarted a kidnap bid on Thursday night and rescued the victim from a trio. The main accused, identified as Mukesh, managed to flee, but two others have been arrested.

Sub-inspector Yuvaraj of ICF police station noticed a group of men quarrelling inside a moving car on Thursday night. When he intercepted the vehicle, three men escaped from the vehicle. But the SI managed to secure one person, identified as Manikandan, from the vehicle.

Interrogation revealed that Manikandan of Ayanavaram was a victim and the three men tried to kidnap him. As Manikandan was kidnapped from Ayanavaram, he was handed over to the police there and an investigation was initiated.

Police said Mukesh, a history-sheeter in Red Hills police station, had been living with one Latha for the last 20 years in Padi after she separated from her first husband. Latha has two daughters from her previous marriage, including one who is married to Manikandan.

Last week, Latha left Mukesh and went to her daughter’s house in Ayanavaram after a quarrel between them. Mukesh and his two friends who came there on Thursday night in search of her was angered as she was not present there and picked up Manikandan. “They allegedly beat him in the car and threatened him at knifepoint to reveal Latha’s whereabouts when their car was intercepted,” said police.

Based on a complaint from Manikandan, police secured Mukesh’s friends – Gowtham (31) and Karthik (32) – who were remanded in judicial custody. Police said Latha is safe and are hunting for Mukesh.