PUDUCHERRY: Police on Tuesday cracked the kidnap case of Class X student Harish Chandran (14) within 24 hours by arresting six persons.
Director General of Police (DGP) P Kamaraj told reporters that the arrested persons were identified as Venkatesan (32),of Shanmughapuram, Kannan (27) and Thirupathi (28) of New Saram, Surveswar alias Saru (34) and Selvam (34) of Kosapalayam and Ilayaraja (34). One more person Madan, a resident of Vadapalani in Chennai, is reported absconding.The DGP said more than 30 police teams, under the supervision of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Praveer Ranjan and led by SP (North) T Bairavasamy, were instrumental in cracking the case.
Kamaraj said Harish Chandran (14), son of Kalapana (43) and Mohana Krishnan, was kidnapped while on his way to school at 7.40 am on Monday morning. The kidnappers called up the boy’s mother and demanded `30 lakh. But, the family spoke to them and managed to bring down the amount to `5 lakh. The kidnappers kept calling the mother, asking her for the ransom and suggested different locations for the delivery of the amount.
The kidnappers adopted this tactic of shifting the venue in order to ensure that the police did not lay hands on them. They threatened the boy’s family not to disclose anything to the police or the media, he said. The kidnappers kept the boy in a house at Perumukkal village situated between Tindivanam and Villupuram. Several police teams, in plain clothes, followed the vehicle in which the money was taken. Police noticed a motorcycle on which two persons, whom the police later identified them as Surveswar and Kannan, were following the vehicle. The kidnappers who got the impression that they were being shadowed and would be caught, decided to abandon the plan for ransom and released the boy.
They released the boy at Kiliyanur and gave him `100 to reach home. The boy then managed to reach Muruga Theatre from where police took him to D’Nagar police station. Meanwhile, police traced the owner of the two- wheeler with the help of transport department and caught Surveswar. On questioning, he named Kannan who was with him on the bike. Further inquiry revealed the other accused, who were involved in the kidnapping incident and six of them were arrested.
The DGP said investigations revealed that Venkatesan, who was into business suffered a loss. He was the mastermind. He wanted to obtain ransom from one of the victim’s family friends, with whom he had worked. He paid an advance to Kannan to execute kidnap plan.
The DGP said three of the accused had cases against them.
The boy’s mother Kalpana thanked DGP Kamaraj and police officials for rescuing the boy.
The DGP complimented the inspectors Bascarane, Viravallabane, Chitha Gothandaraman, K Varadarajan, Ilango and the other team members.