MADURAI: Unravelling the mystery behind the kidnapping of adolescent girls, who were dropped the next day, in and around the temple city, police on Thursday arrested the accused after he was nabbed by the public.
According to police the accused, G Murugan (35), a daily-wager, was caught by the public and handed over to the Sellur cops while attempting another kidnap. Though details of the arrest are still not clear, police said the victims have confirmed his identity.
Around five cases of kidnapping were reported in the last one year from areas like Sellur, Jaihindpuram and Karupayurani. In all these, girls aged between 10 and 16 were allegedly kidnapped in late evenings near their schools or tuition centres in a bicycle and dropped back in a nearby locality in the wee hours the following day. “He would somehow convince the girls to come with him. Since the children were mostly unsuspecting adolescents, they seemed to have trusted him,” police said.
Strangely, none of the victims have complained of any physical abuse by the kidnapper. “He would buy food for the victims, take them to secluded places and make them sit with him overnight,” police said. However, in the recent case reported in Sellur on July 16, police said that the victim was taken to a cinema where he was captured on CCTV camera.
Police said that the motive of the kidnapper was yet to be ascertained as Murugan was not cooperating in the interrogation. He had a failed marriage and his wife and children are living in Virudhunagar. Yet, police admit that it is still a mystery as to how he picked up the children from busy areas and made them sit through the whole night without creating a ruckus.
Meanwhile, even as a girl was traumatised after being kidnapped, she was asked to leave the school by the head master fearing for the reputation of the school. However, the HM revoked the decision after the intervention of the police.