Police track kidnap gang, rescue victim in five hours

Police identified the victim as Pasoor Rahman (55), a resident of Orikkai in Kancheepuram, who owns Kanchi Super Market, a popular store on KamarajarRoad.

On Tuesday, Rahman was returning home on his two-wheeler after closing the shop around 10.30 pm. When he was coming through Gandhi Road, a van trailing him hit his two-wheeler from behind.

As soon as Rahman fell down, four masked men dragged him into the van, covered his face with a cloth and sped away. They also took away his mobile phone and unlocked it after forcing him to reveal the password. Then they called his son Jayarudin (28) seeking Rs 50 lakh ransom, threatening to kill the hostage if the family approached police.

But Jayarudin contacted the Kancheepuram SP Santosh Hadimani, who formed four special teams to nab the kidnappers. He asked Jayarudin to talk with kidnappers without disconnecting the call the next time. Soon, Jayarudin received a call from his father’s number. As he was speaking over the phone,the police traced the phone’s location.

Police found that the kidnappers had shunned the highway, preferring to travel through villages, and tracked them to Brahmadesam village near Cheyyar in Tiruvannamalai district. After realising that they were traced by the police, the kidnappers abandoned Rahman in a farmland and escaped.

With the help of local villagers, Rahman managed to contact his family and the police around 5.30 am on Wednesday. Police rescued him and conducted an inquiry, and said the kidnappers had used a fake vehicle registration number plate for the van used for committing the crime. A search is on to nab them.