Kidnapped businessman rescued
Mastermind had earlier acquired a loan from victim
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-09-08 04:51 GMT
Chennai: The police on Sunday rescued a 54-year-old businessman kidnapped by a seven-member gang for Rs 50 lakh ransom near Ranipet in Vellore district on Friday. Three persons, including an acquaintance of the businessman, were arrested for the kidnap. The police said that the businessman, D. Gopi Chettiar, a resident of Anandalai road in Walajapet, owns an oil mill and is also into the finance business. On Friday, around 8 pm, he was returning home from his office in Arcot when he was kidnapped.
He had parked his scooter near the Muttukadai junction and was on the phone when an SUV intercepted him. The gang pulled him into the vehicle and fled.Meanwhile, Gopi’s elder brother Raju had approached the Walajapet police after the abductors made a ransom call around 11 pm. Investigations revealed that a few minutes before being kidnapped, Gopi had met his friend Elumalai in Ranipet. He then called the staff in his oil mill and was enquiring about the business when the call got cut and repeated attempts to reach his phone turned futile.
Four teams were formed and sent to Chennai and Chittoor to rescue the businessman. While the police managed to arrest the mastermind Pazhanivel in Arcot on Saturday night, two others, Vinoth, 26, and Rajagopal, 30, were rounded up on Sunday morning in Chittoor in AP, based on Pazhanivel’s account. The businessman was rescued from them, Ranipet DSP J. Sanker, said.
“Pazhanivel had earlier availed of a loan of '15 lakh from Gopi to pay the tuition fees for his sister’s education and he needed more money. Hence, he along with six others, decided to kidnap Gopi for ransom and share the amount, DSP Sanker said.