COIMBATORE: The Singanallur police have intensified the probe to trace members of a gang that kidnapped a businessman here on Sunday for a ransom of Rs 2 crore. The kidnappers later released the businessman, identified as S Dhanasekaran, 53, of Mookambika Nagar in Singanallur. He is a former district-level functionary of Congress party’s OBC wing. On Sunday morning, Dhanasekaran was cleaning his car near his residence. A five-member gang arrived there, gagged him, tied his limbs and forced him into their car.The kidnappers drove Dhanasekaran towards the Palakkad Bypass, where they threatened him and demanded Rs 2 crore for his release. However, upon realising that he did not have the money, the gang robbed him of his mobile phone, car keys and house keys before abandoning him on the roadside. Dhanasekaran, who sustained injuries from an assault by the gang, lodged a complaint with the Singanallur police on the same day. Police registered a case.A special police team tracked the registration number of the car and intercepted it near Trichy. An occupant of the vehicle, identified as Vairavan from Trichy, was secured. During interrogation, Vairavan confessed to the crime and stated that he, along with a Coimbatore resident named Police Karthik and three others, had planned the kidnap. Police began searches for Karthik and three others hailing from Trichy and Tirunelveli.Preliminary investigations indicate that monetary disputes stemming from Dhanasekaran’s business of buying and selling used vehicles led to the kidnap.
