Chennai: Four masked men kidnapped a businessman during his morning walk, threatened him with weapons, demanded ₹50 lakh and robbed him of a five-sovereign gold chain on Monday. Police solved the case by arresting the four abductors within 12 hours when they came to collect the money from the victim and recovered the stolen jewellery, the car used in the crime and three knives.The complainant, Kamalesh Abraham, 57, a resident of Chetpet, runs an aluminium wholesale business in Sowcarpet and a scrap metal business in Thiruverkadu.Kamalesh was on his morning walk in front of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu grounds at Nehru Park in Kilpauk around 6.30am on Monday when three masked men arrived in a car, called him by name and forcibly bundled him into the vehicle.Investigators said the accused threatened him by claiming that they possessed a firearm. They also brandished knives. They drove him towards Poonamallee, assaulted him and demanded ₹50 lakh. When the businessman offered ₹1 lakh, the culprits rejected the offer and told him they were paid ₹10 lakh to kill him. After he promised to arrange ₹30 lakh by afternoon, the gang took his mobile number, removed the five-sovereign gold chain from his neck and dropped him off near the grounds before fleeing.Kamalesh, a native of Udangudi near Tirunelveli, later lodged a complaint at the Kilpauk police station, following which a case was registered, and a special team launched an investigation.While the investigation was in progress, the culprits contacted the complainant and instructed him to deliver the money near a tea shop on Broadway. Police laid a trap and nabbed two of the suspects when they arrived there to collect the cash bag left near a tea shop. Subsequently, police arrested the other two abductors.The arrested men were identified as Jai Saravanan, 20, Jayakumar, 33, Ramkumar, 23, and Ponnivalavan, 25. One of the arrested suspects, Jayakumar, worked as a driver for a former DMK MLA in Chennai city. Police teams are searching for the insider who assisted the kidnappers. Police recovered the stolen five-sovereign gold chain and seized the rented car used in the offence along with three knives.The four arrested men were produced before a magistrate court and remanded in judicial custody.
