Four, including a woman, arrested for abduction of Lankan businessman

CHENNAI: The city police have arrested four persons, including a woman, in connection with the alleged kidnap of a Sri Lanka-based businessman, who came to Chennai to meet his clients, for a ransom of Rs 15 lakh.

Police swung into action after the issue came to light when the businessman Mohamed Sham's daughter in Sri Lanka received the ransom call on Wednesday. The victim came to Chennai on November 11 and he stayed at a hotel in the city.

He vacated the room on the same day night and then his whereabouts were not known. Based on the complaint of the victim's daughter, the North Beach police registered a kidnap case.

A police team led by the Harbour assistant commissioner of police T Veerakumar tracked the suspects and the victim Mohammad Sham. After trailing thekidnappers with the help of Shyam's mobile phone, which he had used to communicate his Shyam's daughter in Sri Lanka.

The team traced the suspects toa hideout in Mannadi and rescued Sham. The police team arrested K Chitra, 43, and Riyaz Askar, 47, both from Anna Nagar West, G Velmurugan, 41, and K Dinesh, 31, of West KK Nagar. Police are now lookingfor at least two more accused. Inquiries revealed that Sham had borrowed Rs.5 lakh from Chitra to meet his business transaction and he didn't repay it.

Chitra tracked Shyam's movements and she engaged his friends to abduct him to extract money from him.The kidnappers had detained victim at a house in Virugambakkam and threatened him to part with the money. As he didn't get any proper reply, one of the abductors called his daughter in Sri Lanka and demanded her to pay the cash after which she had transferred Rs.95,000. She had later lodged a complaint.