Schoolteacher among seven held for kidnapping industrialist

Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu: Seven persons, including a schoolteacher, were arrested on Friday for allegedly abducting an industrialist from the district, police said.

Durai Selvam (57), an industrialist running multiple businesses including real estate and transport in the district, was abducted on Thursday night while on his way home from office, police said.

Selvam's wife later received a ransom call from his kidnappers, demanding Rs 5 crore to release him. They threatened to kill him if the ransom was not paid, police said. When the victim's family approached the police, a special team to investigate the case was secretly set up.

Three of the accused were arrested earlier on Friday when they were interrogated during a vehicle check in the district.

When they confessed that Selvam was being held captive in the remote K V Kuppam village in neighbouring Vellore district, the industrialist was rescued and rest of the accused were arrested, police said.

Among the seven accused was Selvakumar (46), a teacher in the Higher Secondary School in Sigaranapalli near Krishnagiri, police said.

While Selvam's car was rescued, a Tata Sumo and two motor cycles were seized.