Chennai kidnappers held, ransom recovered

The two suspects who allegedly kidnapped R. Keerthivasan (13) of Anna Nagar while he was returning home from school on Monday and released him after taking a ransom of Rs. 98.73 lakh were nabbed by the police here on Thursday.

We have got the accusedthe motive was nothing but ransom. Police were concerned over the safety of the boy as much as his family was. We deliberately let the accused escape because we knew it would be easy to track them, Commissioner of Police T. Rajendran said in a press conference.

The accused persons R. Vijay Kumar (26), an engineering graduate with MBA from a foreign university, and K. Prabhu (29), a diploma holder in Mechanical Engineering, were arrested from their house in Anna Nagar by a special team that kept track of them. The latter had worked in Singapore for sometime.

Mr. Rajendran said as part of the tactical operation police advised the boys family to give part of the ransom demanded by the kidnappers. We wanted them to around Rs. 20 lakh. But they gave nearly Rs. 1 croretheir anxiety is understandable. Though police could have arrested the accused when the exchange (of money and the boy) took place, it was decided not to take any chances.

He said police had surrounded the entire area and stopped just short of launching a storming operation. The accused had no other option but to release the boywe were all around them. To pay the ransom was part of the strategy, he explained.

Mr. Rajendran said a number of special teams were involved in the operation led by the Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) M. Shakeel Akhter and the Joint Commissioner of Police (Central) P. Thamaraikannan. The accused had threatened to kidnap the boy a few months ago when they called from a SIM card activated with fake address. They were relatives to one of the managers employed by Ramesh (father of Keerthivasan) in his business.

According to police sources, Vijay and Prabhu were planning to kidnap Keerthivasan for several months. Six months ago, they stole a car in Mangadu and used it without changing the number plate. After kidnapping the boy, they dumped him in the boot space and removed speakers of the music system to allow air circulation.

The car was parked a few streets away from the boys house in Anna Nagar. After negotiating the ransom, the accused wanted the money to be delivered at a place near the car. They came in a motorcycle wearing helmets, took the cash bag and gave the car key before escaping. The boy was found in the boot, a senior police official said.

Ramesh noted down the registration number of the motorcycle and informed the police who tracked down the suspects. The motorcycle was registered in the name of Vijay and he was arrested from his house in Anna Nagar. On his confession, Prabhu was apprehended. The ransom was recovered intact. The vehicle number was crucial in solving the case, the official added.