Police Rescue Kidnapped Medavakkam Businessman From Sivaganga Farmhouse, Arrest Four

The Thalambur police have rescued a 56-year-old real estate businessman, Charles, who was kidnapped for a ₹1-crore ransom from the Kelambakkam-Navalur stretch on June 27, and arrested four suspects.

Charles, a resident of Medavakkam and a shareholder of Neo Max Properties Pvt Ltd, was travelling in his luxury car with his driver, 30-year-old Shyam, when the incident occurred. Shyam parked the car at a mall along the Kelambakkam-Navalur stretch and stepped out briefly.

While the driver was away, a four-member gang entered the vehicle, threatened Charles, took control of the car, and drove away with him inside.

Following the abduction, the Thalambur police initiated an investigation. Based on CCTV footage, police officers traced the suspects to Madurai. They subsequently rescued Charles from a farmhouse in Sivaganga and arrested the four men.

The arrested suspects have been identified as Dinesh Pandiyan, 34, Dinesh Kumar, 33, and Sabari, 26, all from Ramanathapuram, and Karuppasamy, 24, from Coimbatore. All four accused have been remanded in judicial custody.

During the investigation, police discovered that the same gang had kidnapped Charles seven months prior. During that earlier incident, the group extorted ₹1.4 crore from the businessman. Charles chose not to file a police complaint at the time, after which the gang targeted him again to demand another ₹1 crore.

According to the police, the suspects claimed they were depositors who had been defrauded of nearly ₹8,000 crore by Charles' firm. However, the police noted that the suspects have not provided any proof to back up these allegations.

The police are currently investigating the validity of the suspects' claims and are also probing whether a business rivalry was involved in the kidnapping.