CHENNAI: A 17-year-old boy from Mannadi was allegedly kidnapped by a group of men he had gotten acquainted with on social media, and released within a few hours on condition that he pays them Rs 1 lakh and 100 gm of gold within a few days.
According to police, the boy, who had completed Class 12 this year, got acquainted with a few men on Instagram. Under the pretext of meeting him in person, he was asked to wait near a tea shop in Mannadi on Wednesday night.
Even as he was waiting at the spot, a group came in an autorickshaw and forcibly took him to a secluded place where he was physically assaulted. The gang then asked him to pay Rs 1 lakh and 100 grams of gold. When the youth said he did not have them, the gang told him to arrange for it in a few days and let him go.
The boy returned home and told his father, a pawn broker at Sowcarpet, who lodged a police complaint. Police perused CCTV footage from the locality and arrested V Vasanthakumar (31) on Thursday.
Based on the information he provided, police arrested P Vijayakumar (29), A Esa alias Ananth (21) and R Raja Ranjith (31) on Friday. A search is on to nab another person involved in the case.
Police said the gang had extorted money from another teenager a few months ago, who happens to be the victim’s friend. The gang members had threatened that boy and collected details about the victim, planning to make him their next target.