COIMBATORE: Coimbatore District police have registered a case against five persons for allegedly kidnapping a 55-year-old farmer from Anamalai and confining him in a place near Dindigul.
The farmer was kidnapped on Sunday, beaten up and released on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Dindigul police arrested two of the gang members after one of them brandished a gun in a bakery.
According to Coimbatore police, R Subramanian of Vinayagar Kovil Street, Diwanshapudur, Anamalai was kidnapped by a three-man gang by pretending to see 1.5-acre coconut grove that he wanted to sell.
They came to seen him at around 3 pm on Sunday and took Subramanian in their car to ‘the land’. While inside, they offered him a soft drink. Subramanian fainted after drinking it. When he woke up, he was shocked to find that the three had confined him to a dark room.
In the room, the three, along with two others, assaulted him with plastic pipes and threatened him with a hand gun. They also took away his house key. On Tuesday at around 5 pm, they released him.
Later, Subramanian came to know that the room was in Athampatty, about 19 km from Ottanchathiram in Dindigul. He got back to his house on Tuesday night and found the documents of his farmland missing.
Relatives admitted Subramanian to the Polachi Government Hospital, where he is being treated for injuries on his mouth, back and eye caused by the gang.
On being informed by the Pollachi GH authorities of the matter, the Anamalai police took a statement from Subramanian. They have registered a case under IPC sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 364 (kidnapping for murder), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 324 (hurting by dangerous weapons).
On Thursday, two of the gang members were arrested by the Dindigul police.
“One of them, Deepankumar, brandished a hand gun in a bakery after an argument with the shop owner. Following this, the local police arrested him. On interrogating him, they found that Deepankumar and
four others were involved in the kidnapping of the Anamalai farmer,” said a police official.
The Coimbatore District police will soon arrest them formally, he added.