Duo held for bid to kidnap, extort money from engineer

Samson (23) worked as a mechanical engineer in a private tire factory in Oragadam near Sriperumbudur.

When on his way home on Saturday night around 11:45 pm, two men brandishing a knife stopped Samson's bike as he approached the Orathur flyover.

The duo took Rs 250 after frisking Samson's pockets and also kicked and dragged him across to the side of the road.

They threatened Samson with murder and asked him to call his father over phone and bring Rs 50,000. Frightened, Samson informed his father Prabhakar about his ordeal, about how he was held hostage near Orathur flyover and asked him to bring the money.

Aware of the situation, Prabhakar spoke to the assailants over phone and assured them of the money and pleaded with them to not hurt his son.

Prabhakar immediately contacted police over the '100' helpline number and reported about his son's abduction.

In the next few minutes, Manimangalam and Guduvancheri police rushed to the spot.

Samson's location was traced using his cell phone tower. When the police closed in on the hideout, the assailants tried to run but were caught after a chase. Injured Samson was admitted to Sriperumbudur Government Hospital for treatment.

Following interrogation at the Manimangalam police station, the accused revealed themselves as Orathur locals - Ajith (21) and Vasanthkumar (18).

While Vasanthkumar worked as a mechanic in Tambaram, Ajith was unemployed. It was revealed that the two had made plans to extort money and were involved in similar incidents. Both were produced in court and later remanded in custody.