Abducted man rescued from four amid high drama

Madurai: A key witness in a murder case, who was abducted by a gang of four to murder him, was rescued by Kanyakumari police amidst high drama on Thursday. The police arrested four men in this connection and two of them had reportedly suffered fractured limbs during their bid to escape from the police.

The victim Santhakumar, 40, of Chitharal, was a van driver and Sunil, from the same area, was his cleaner. Police sources said that Santhakumar was the prime witness in the murder of his cousin Shermin, a lecturer, in her house in 2010. She was hacked to death by a man, Sajin, over unrequited love as she refused to marry him. Santhakumar’s statement was among the key factors leading to the double life imprisonment of Sajin.

Sajin, who is lodged in the Palayamkottai central prison in Tirunelveli, got acquainted with Sunil when the latter was lodged in jail in connection with a case against him. Preliminary inquiries by the police revealed that Sajin promised Rs 2 lakh through a relative to Sunil and his accomplices if they murder Santhakumar. Sunil, who was released on bail, planned the abduction and murder of Santhakumar.

He colluded with Anand, 27 of Vettuvilai, Sajikumar, 24 of Karumanur, and another Sajin, 30 of Ayira, to execute the plan. Sunil, who had stopped working with Santhakumar, called the latter on Wednesday evening for an important discussion and took him to a rubber estate on bike at Aaluvilai. The three other accomplices grabbed him at knife point.

They told him about the murder plan, but said that they had then changed their mind as they were unsure if they would get paid by the man in jail. They called Santhakumar’s wife Radha and demanded Rs 50,000 to free him. She then went to the Marthandam Police around 10 pm and filed a complaint. The police guided her to call back the abductors and agree to give the money.

A policeman also spoke to the abductors in the pretext of her relative and asked for the place where the money should be handed over. Shortly after midnight, Radha reached the place at Aaluvilai alone in an autorickshaw, as instructed by the abductors. The police came there in plain clothes and surrounded two abductors, who came to collect the money. While two others managed to escape, the police rescued Santhakumar.

With the help of the arrested people, the police traced two others before sunrise. Sub inspector Sivashankar suffered an injury in the rescue bid. The police said that the accused will be remanded to judicial custody late on Thursday. Inquiry will be conducted with convict Sajin too, they added.