Perumbavoor abduction case: Five held

KOCHI: The C-Branch of the Ernakulam rural police on Tuesday arrested five more persons in connection with the abduction of a plywood merchant at Perumbavoor and the extortion of money from him.The arrested are Ambadan Shamshad, 44, of Vallam, his relatives Shiyas, 43, and Siyad, 35, and Shamshad’s friends Siddhique, 33, of Allapra, and Anoop, 32, of Thuruthel. With the investigation team having earlier arrested Ajmal, Navab, Ashraf and Raysan, the total number of persons arrested in the case has risen to nine. 

The incident relating to the case occurred on October 30 when a gang stopped the car in which Jameer, belonging to Mudikal, was travelling. The gangsters abducted him and took him to a godown at Vallam. They allegedly robbed him of `3.5 lakh and property documents kept in the car, and also forcibly took the merchant’s signature on cheque leaves for `4.5 lakh. Shamshad and Jameer’s brother had some financial dealings, and the resultant issues led to the abduction, the police said.