Madurai: The city police have arrested nine members of a gang including two women involved in abducting two children of a businessman for ransom at Madurai. “A 35-member police team from constable to senior level officers spent sleepless nights for four days since Thursday to rescue the baby and recover the ransom of Rs 42, 43,500 from the gang,” said police commissioner Mahesh Kumar Agarwal to reporters here on Monday.
The kids’ parents -Karthigaiselvam and Kavitha- , who looked immensely relieved of distress, appreciated the city police for their efficiency in handling the case.
“Even before we made a complaint, senior police officers were on the job,” said Karthigaiselvam, who owns a wholesale grocery store and also runs a ‘vadagam’ unit in Madurai.
The main accused Ravichandran (40) from Vandiyur had kidnapped K Anusri (8) and K Jayasri (5) when they were on their way to school in a car at New Ramnad road, for revenge, said the commissioner. Ravichandran’s father Subburaj who died recently due to ill-health, had worked for Karthigaiselvam family as accountant for many years. “Even after Karthigaiselvam’s family provide financial assistance to Subburaj’s treatment, Ravichandran demanded more money and had quarrel with him when it was refused, said Agarwal.
Ravchandran and his wife Kaladevi (30) conspired with one Kannan alias Pichai Kannu (46) from Thoothukudi, Jeva alias Jevajothi (33), Radhakrishnan (47), Gunasekaran (45), Manikandan (28) from Madurai and Maniraj (36) from Virudhunagar to execute the crime, said the commissioner.
As Ravichandran runs a de-addiction centre in Madurai, he has acquaintance with drugs which he used to make the car driver Pandian unconscious before kidnapping the children and locked them in a house in Madurai, said the commissioner.
Stating that the police adopted a three-pronged approach with first priority to rescue the children safely, then arrest the accused and third to recover the ransom paid, Mr. Agarwal said the gang members had operated from Madurai and Tirunelveli. The gang had purchased a luxury car for Rs 7.5 lakh after they received the ransom from the parents. The police have recovered the car and another car the gang used in the crime.The commissioner said that Ravichandran and Kannan have criminal precedents and the woman accused Jevajothi, had earlier worked at the de-addiction centre.
Meanwhile, Karthigaiselvam told DC that the gang members had administered seductive drugs to his two children, adding, police have assured to get the drug details from the culprits as the doctors treating his children want to know the name of the drugs.
