Coimbatore rural police rescue kidnapped boy

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore rural police rescued a kidnapped boy within three hours of receiving a missing person complaint on Thursday night. The police arrested Anwar Ali, 18, and a 17-year-old boy for kidnapping five-year-old Humayun, son of Amthathul Islam, 29, a guest worker. Islam -- who hails from Assam, resides in Oraikkalpalayam and works at a private firm in Annur -- lodged a missing person complaint with the Annur police at 7.30pm on Thursday. He stated that his son and a mobile phone he had kept in his house were missing. During investigations, the police found that the kidnappers were former employees of the firm where Islam works. They were all employed under the labour contractor Soriful, who is Islam’s brother. It was alleged that Soriful had received wages from the firm but had not handed them over to the workers for the last three months. Efforts to retrieve their wages were unsuccessful as Soriful had fled to Assam with the money.Ali and the 17-year boy planned to threaten Soriful by kidnapping Islam’s son. On Thursday night, they took the boy to an isolated place near Palakkad and contacted the firm's supervisor, demanding their three months' salary of Rs 1.80 lakh immediately. They threatened to harm the boy if their demands were not met.The Coimbatore rural police sent a team from the K G Chavadi police station to the location. Meanwhile, information was relayed to the Palakkad police. Around 10.30pm, both the K G Chavadi police and the Palakkad police reached the spot and rescued the boy.The accused duo were brought to the Annur police station, and a case was registered. Ali was remanded in judicial custody while the 17-year-old boy was sent to an observation home.