Man kidnaps estranged wife’s brother, nabbed

CHENNAI: A man was arrested on Thursday along with five of his friends for kidnapping his wife’s brother after she left him for good. The police rescued the boy within hours after the kidnap. Janani (24) is the daughter of a vegetable vendor, and has a 17-year-old brother studying in Class 12. On Wednesday evening, after the school got over, six men came in a car and kidnapped the boy as he was leaving home.

“Since there wasn’t enough space for all of them in the car, one of the suspects was dropped a few metres away from school while the others sped away,” said the police. “The parents and some school boys chased and caught the man who was dropped off.” The information was passed on to Janani’s father Mariyappan and the Red Hills police.  

The suspect was taken to the police station, and was identified as Santhosh Kumar, 25, from Pudukkottai. Upon inquiry, the police found out that Janani was married to one Boopathi in Pudukkottai a few months ago. However, depressed by her in-laws’ behaviour, she left her marital home and returned to her parents in Chennai. As Boopathi could not convince Janani to return, he decided to kidnap her brother. 

Santhosh Kumar also revealed that the gang was taking the boy to Pudukkottai. The information was passed on the police stations along the way. Around 9pm, the Acharapakkam police noticed a car trying to take a U-turn at a check-post placed near the Aathur Toll Plaza along the Chennai-Tiruchy highway. They chased and blocked it, and found the school boy inside it. He was rescued while the six accused were remanded in judicial custody.