ERODE: An alert constable manning a check post in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district rescued a Karnataka man being kidnapped by a gang in the early hours of Saturday.
Harish Kumar, a 38-year-old first-grade constable at the Bhavanisagar police station, was on night duty at the Kallipatty check post. Around 1.30am, he stopped a sport utility vehicle (SUV). He heard a man’s voice from inside the vehicle pleading for help.
“When I asked the SUV driver about the passenger, he told me that the man was mentally ill,” the constable told reporters. As the SUV was about to move, Harish Kumar managed to grab the man’s arm and pulled him out. The SUV sped away.
The rescued man has been identified as Eswaravel, 21, of Hebbal near Bengaluru. He was kidnapped by a four-member gang from near a temple in the Ilanga Veerasagara area of Bengaluru around 6.15pm on Friday. Eswaravel told the constable that the gang had taken him to an ATM to withdraw money. The kidnappers wanted to demand Rs 2 crore from his father, K Muthu, as ransom.
The gang member, believed to be in their 30s, spoke Malayalam.
The constable took Eswaravel to the Bhavanisagar police station. They notified the Hebbal police. The man would be handed over to the Karnataka police.