Abductors free businessman in 5 hours: Cops on trail

Chennai: A 65-year-old businessman allegedly kidnapped at Kancheepuram on Tuesday night was freed after five-and-half hours in Tiruvannamalai on Wednesday morning.

According to police, Rasool Rahuman (56), a resident of Orikarai, owns a super market on Kamararajar Salai in Kancheepuram.

“On Tuesday night at around 10.30pm, Rasool was returning home after closing the shop when an unidentified masked gang in a white omni car started following him. When he was riding his two-wheeler on Gandhi road, the omni rammed into his two-wheeler. Rasool fell on the road and sustained minor injuries.  Five masked men got down from the car and abducted him at knife-point,” the police said.

Since the area is deserted at night, nobody noticed the incident. The kidnappers after an hour of abduction called his son, Jalaludeen, and allegedly demanded Rs 50 lakh as ransom.

Jalaludeen immediately alerted Kancheepuram superintendent of police. “The information was passed onto the police control room and special teams were formed to nab the culprits.

Four teams were formed in the surrounding districts like Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruchy and Arakkonam. They were set on alert and vehicle checkings were being done.

Meanwhile, another call was made to Jalaludeen and he was asked to extend the duration of the phone call so that the cyber team could trace the call. Police found the vehicle moving near Cheyyar in Tiruvannamalai district. Orders were given to all the special teams to reach Tiruvannamalai.

Knowing that the police are closing in on them,  the gang hit Rasool hard and threw him out of the omni around 4 am in Cheyyar and fled the place. Rasool then with the help of nearby villagers made a call to his son and informed about his location.

Rasool was rescued and a case has been registered and further investigations to nab the culprits are on.