Gang kidnaps Class 12 boy over Insta relationship

A Class 23 boy, who was kidnapped from Padianallur by a three-member gang including the boyfriend of a minor girl whom he had befriended on Instagram, was rescued by the Red Hills police, who also arrested the suspects on Saturday.

Vinoth Kumar (name changed) from Kannampalayam, a Class 12 student of a government school, befriended a girl, also a Class 12 student from Padianallur. During the lunch hour on Friday, he went to her school where they met near a subway as usual. After the girl returned to the school, three men surrounded Vinoth and his friend and pushed him into an autorickshaw around 2 pm.

His friend who managed to flee from the spot received a phone call a few hours later demanding Rs 5,000 to release Vinoth. After he approached them, Red Hills police traced the gang with the help of the tower location of Vinoth’s mobile phone and rescued him.

The kidnappers, identified as Kishore (21), Sachin Deepak (26) and Saran Kumar (24) of Padianallur, were secured and the autorickshaw used for the kidnap was seized.

Investigation revealed that the girl was Kishore’s girlfriend. Police said Kishore and the girl had eloped in 2020 and Kishore was arrested under Pocso Act for sexually assaulting her.

After getting released on bail, Kishore continued the relationship with the girl and their parents allegedly agreed to get them married after the girl turned major.

Recently, Kishore grew suspicious about the girl’s new relationship with Vinoth and started following them. “On Friday, Kishore kidnapped Vinoth to warn him to snap the relationship with the girl. He also demanded Rs 5,000 to release him and made calls to Vinoth’s friend,” said inspector MC Ramesh, who nabbed the suspects.

All three men were booked for kidnap and were remanded in judicial custody on Saturday.