CHENNAI: City police have arrested five youths for allegedly abducting two youths and assaulting them near Kasimedu on Sunday evening.

According to the police, the victims, Kingston (21) of Kasimedu and his friend Rohit, were walking back home after visiting the swimming pool on Ilaya Street when one of the accused asked Kingston to come near their car, claiming to talk to him over a dispute Kingston had with a friend.

As Kingston and Rohit ignored him and tried to walk away, the gang pushed them into a car and assaulted them. The victims raised an alarm after which the gang abandoned the vehicle and fled.

Based on a complaint by Kingston, police traced and arrested the suspects. Preliminary investigations revealed that the group targeted the youths over their friendship with a girl with whom one of the accused was hoping to get into a relationship.

Police arrested five persons - Mohandas (21) of Velachery, Dhanushraj (22) of RA Puram, Sai Prasanna (21) and Abishek (21) of Pallikaranai, and Yathu Krishnan (21) of Perungudi. All five of them were produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.