Kidnapped techie rescued in 48 hrs

Police arrested the abductors Partheepan (22), a hardware engineer, Pravin Balaji (25) and Vivek Raj (26), both engineering graduates and Jayaseelan (19) a Class 12 student. The gang had demanded a ransom of Rs 10 lakh for Premkumar’s release The rescue operation gave several anxious moments to the police since Premkumar’s safety was a priority. Police also said the gang members had planned to kidnap a software professional thinking that they could easily extract a good ransom and splurge on the money. Premkumar was abducted when he was waiting for a vehicle to return to his room from the office at Navalur. Police said Premkumar and his colleague and friend Sandeep Sai (29), shared a room. “They usually travelled together to and from office but on July 27, Sandeep Sai returned home alone around 9 pm since Premkumar had to stay back to complete his work. He got out of office around 1 am,” K Sekar, Deputy Superintendent of Police, who led the special team that cracked the case, told DTNext.  

The swift action by a friend and a wellplanned operation by cops helped in rescuing a HCL techie of Navalur, who was kidnapped for ransom by a four-member gang.

Sandeep Sai, a roommate, friend and colleague of HCL employee Premkumar was worried as the latter did not return from work. Sandeep tried to reach him on his mobile phone, but it was switched off.  When Sandeep contacted the office, he was told that Premkumar had left for home around 1 am on Thursday after work. Later that day, at around 4pm, Sandeep received a call on his mobile that Premkumar had been kidnapped, and a ransom demand was made. Without wasting time, he went to the police station the same day and informed the police that he got a call from one of the gang members, who demanded Rs 10 lakh as ransom for the safe release of Premkumar.

In a quickly-planned operation, Mammalapuram police formed a special team and started tracking the movements of the gang. “The gang reportedly came in a Toyota Corolla and approached Premkumar while he was waiting at Navalur to go home in the guise of seeking route to an address. Then, the gang engaged him in a talk and asked about his profession. 

When he them that he was a software engineer with the HCL, they offered to drop him at his house near Kelambakkam but Premkumar refused. Suddenly, the gang dragged Premkumar into the car and sprayed some intoxicant on his face,” Sekar said. “Later, Premkumar was taken to a forest area in Thaiyar and was detained there till 4 am. From there, he was later taken to the house of one of the gang members. In a bid to deceive the cops, the gang left the Toyota Corolla to its owner, who was a friend of the gang members. After this, they took the Volkswagen Polo of another friend and drove along with Premukumar to Mahabalipuram, where they checked into a hotel to plan their next move,” Sekar said. The gang first called Sandeep on his mobile phone around 4 pm on July 28 and demanded the ransom for his safe release. “They asked Premkumar to speak to Sandeep over the mobile phone and the former pleaded to arrange for the ransom money,” the Deputy superintendent of Police said. The special team then advised Sandeep to follow their instructions so that his friend could be rescued without any trouble. 

Cops in plain clothes accompanied Sandeep to the Kelambakkam bus stand, where he was asked to hand over the money. One of the gang members arrived to collect the money that Sandeep had but sensing police presence made good his escape. From then on the gang members kept changing locations little realsing that the police team were always on their track. 

Finally, police instructed Sandeep to walk alone with the bag of money on ECR near Kovalam, the second spot fixed by the gang for getting the ransom. An SI in plain clothes followed Sandeep at a considerable distance. When Partheepan, one of the gang members, came to collect the money and he was caught. Cops then asked him to convey his accomplices that he had received the cash. Then Partheepan led the cops to the gang’s hideout, where the other members were also apprehended before Premkumar was rescued.