The city police have cracked the case of abduction of a 57-year-old businessman from Kilpauk by arresting four men. He was threatened to pay a ransom of ₹50 lakh and was robbed of a five sovereign gold chain.

The victim, Kamalesh Abraham of Chetpet, runs an aluminum wholesale business in Sowcarpet and a scrap metal business in Thiruverkadu.

According to the police, Kamalesh was walking near the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) grounds at Nehru Park around 6.30 a.m. when three masked men arrived in a car, called him by name and forced him into the vehicle. The accused allegedly threatened him with knives and claimed they were carrying a firearm. They drove towards Poonamallee, assaulted him and demanded ₹50 lakh. When Kamalesh offered ₹1 lakh, the gang rejected the offer and allegedly told him they were paid ₹10 lakh to kill him.

After the businessman agreed to arrange ₹30 lakh by afternoon, the accused retained his mobile phone and snatched a five-sovereign gold chain from his neck and abandoned him near the SDAT grounds before fleeing.

Kamalesh later lodged a complaint with the Kilpauk police, who registered a case and formed a special team to trace the accused.

During the investigation, the gang contacted the complainant and directed him to hand over the money near a tea stall on Broadway. Acting on the information, the police laid a trap and arrested all four suspects when they arrived to collect the cash. Investigation is under way.

The arrested men were identified as Jai Saravanan, 20, Jayakumar, 33, Ramkumar, 23, and Ponnivalavan, 25. One of the arrested suspects, Jayakumar, had worked as a driver for a former DMK MLA and had received a tip from an insider that the businessman had earlier been booked for GST fraud and for using duplicate bills to cheat the government. Police teams are searching for the insider who assisted the kidnappers.

The police recovered the stolen gold chain and seized the rented car used in the offence along with three knives.

The four arrested men were produced before a magistrate court and remanded to judicial custody.

Published - July 22, 2026 03:00 am IST