ANANTAPUR: The Nandyal district police busted an 11-member interstate abduction gang and seized Rs 40 lakhs in cash and three cars after rescuing the victims on Friday.
The gang targeted the family of Ch. Nagi Reddy, a landlord, of Bethamcherla with the purpose of extortion of money.
Police said the gang led by Suresh of Gooty area hatched the plan to abduct Nagi Reddy and his son Vinayaka to extract a huge sum from them. They abducted Vinayaka Reddy and grandson Bharath Kumar along with driver Sainath Reddy from Seetharampuram in Bethamcherla mandal on June 5.
The kidnappers demanded Rs 4 crore to release the three and threatened dire consequences for Nagi Reddy if the family did not part with as much money.
Nagi Reddy, in a huff, obtained hand loans from relatives and friends and handed over four crore rupees in two packs – one at CK Palli in Satya Sai district and another at Kolar in Karnataka with the help of his niece, Shankar Reddy.
Yet, the kidnappers refused to release the three and demanded another Rs 4 crore, with a warning that otherwise, they would kill Vinayaka, the grandson, and the driver.
Nagi Reddy approached Nandyal SP Raghuveer Reddy, following which the police formed four special teams and tracked down the kidnappers. One of these teams nabbed Suresh of Gooty at the Sunkalamma Temple on Thursday and extracted information about the other kidnappers and the whereabouts of the victims.
This led to the arrest of Sreenivas, Khalandar, Ajay Vijay, Bhargav, Prabhu, Prakash, GN Rajnith Kumar of Karnataka, and Ravi Kumar and Ranjith of Anantapur district.
About Rs 40 lakh in cash from the extracted Rs 4 crore was recovered and three cars were seized from the kidnappers, the SP said.
