COIMBATORE: The Podanur police on Wednesday night arrested the mastermind of the kidnap of two youths here a few days ago. He suffered a leg fracture while trying to flee during the arrest and was admitted to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital for treatment.Police identified the mastermind as G Karuppusamy, 24, of Dharapuram Road in Tirupur. He is a history sheeter with eight criminal cases registered at Nallur, Avinashipalayam, and Kamanaickenpalayam police stations in Tirupur district, K Paramathi police station in Karur district and Thammampatti police station in Salem district. According to police, Karuppusamy, J Kaalidas, 31, and J Ramkumar, 31, along with four others, planned to kidnap M Navin, 29, and P Nirmal Kumar, 29, who were involved in selling online lottery tickets. The youths were kidnapped on Monday, and the gang demanded Rs 50 lakh from their family members. After Navin’s sisters filed a complaint, police set a trap and instructed the family to indicate that they were ready to pay the ransom to secure the victims’ release.When family members went to Veerapandi in Tirupur, two policemen from Nallur police station — identified as P Mohan, 37, and V Anand, 38 — were present to collect the cash. They were arrested. During questioning, they said Kaalidas, related to Anand, had asked them to pick up the money. The policemen claimed that they had not been informed of the kidnap. Based on their statements, police secured Kaalidas and Ramkumar. Further investigation is continuing, and police are searching for the remaining suspects.
