In Chennai, four men who lost money betting online on the advice of a courier firm operator kidnapped his employee on Wednesday and demanded ₹20 lakh for his release. Times of India reported that the victim has been rescued on Thursday, and the kidnappers were arrested.
The courier office in Sowcarpet has been run by 32-year-old, Brijesh Bhai a native of Gujarat for the past three years. His employee Rahul, who was kidnapped was also from Gujarat and has been working in the firm for the past three months.
“Brijesh received a call on Wednesday from a few individuals claiming that his friend Umesh Chander had sent him ₹20 lakh. They asked Brijesh to collect it from T Nagar,” said the police.
But Brijesh couldn’t reach Umesh over a call. So, he sent his employee Rahul to collect the money. “Rahul did not return with the cash, and his phone was switched off,” said the police. Later, Brijesh received a call demanding a ransom, prompting him to file a complaint at Elephant Gate police station on Wednesday night.
A police team led by Inspector Kannagi reviewed CCTV camera footage tracking Rahul at T Nagar. Another police team tracked his mobile phone location to Nazarethpet near Poonamallee.
Flower Bazaar Assistant Commissioner of Police Dakshinamurthy, assigned a team which finally rescued Rahul. The abductors were identified as Udaya Sankar, 22, Mahesh, 30, a gym trainer, Sai Kantha Reddy, 31, and Mathuri Mahesh, 30, all from Telangana.
“The four had placed bets on a cricket match through an online site called ‘Mahadev App’ on the advice of Brijesh and another man named Umesh Chander,” police said. After suffering losses and being refused compensation by Brijesh, they decided to take matters into their own hands.
One of them called Brijesh and asked him to collect the cash. When Rahul went there, the four abducted him in a car and kept him at a house in Nazarethpet. The four were remanded in judicial custody. Brijesh and his friend Umesh Chander will be interrogated by the Police about the financial transactions.