In a swift operation, the Coimbatore City Police on Saturday rescued the family members of a Coimbatore-based industrialist, who were kidnapped by a gang on Thursday at gunpoint. The industrialist managed to escape from the kidnappers and inform the police.

According to police, S. Arulkumaran (37), a resident of M.M Garden in Sundakamuthur, was the proprietor of AKS Ventures, which makes machine spares. He was also involved in goldsmith business. On Thursday around 11.30 pm, a five-member gang entered their house posing as policemen and abducted Arulkumaran, his wife, and children after brandishing guns and weapons and threatening to kill them. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs.60 lakhs and 7 kilos of gold.

They had also taken Rs.1.80 lakhs and 110 sovereigns of gold from the house. The abductees were kept in a lodge near Avinashi Road.

Arulkumaran managed to escape from their grasp and informed the Pelamedu police.

Four special teams were formed by the police under the supervision of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Nisha Parthiban, and rescued the hostages from the lodge on Saturday.

They arrested four of the culprits while conducting vehicle checks near Ganapathy and Hopes. “The culprits had used Arulkumaran’s car to escape. It was therefore easy to trace them. While one of the culprits, Paramasivam, was arrested near Ganapathy around 6.00 am on Saturday, two more culprits, Godwin aka Thambiraj and Anthony, were arrested while they attempted to run away from the police. They jumped off the Hopes Rail Over Bridge and injured themselves,” said a higher official from the police department.

The official added that the duo was treated at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) and further said that the police had retrieved Rs.3.48 in cash, 103 sovereigns of gold, a pistol, a gun, and 46 bullets. The police are on the lookout for the culprits who haven’t been caught yet.

Further investigations have revealed that two of the culprits who were caught, Godwin and Anthony, are history-sheeters from Tuticorin, with as many as 40 cases pending on them. They are also involved in criminal activities in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tuticorin. They are suspected to have been involved in the kidnapping and murder of one Selvakumar (27), from Jayaprakash Nagar, at Sanganur Main Road in 2006.

Police Commissioner A.Amalraj lauded the efforts of the city police who had managed to solve the case in less than two days.