Three in custody five days after Kerala minor was kidnapped

Thiruvananthapuram: Following five days of intense investigation, the Kerala Police on Friday detained three individuals from the Tamil Nadu region, who are thought to be the suspects in the Monday abduction of the 6-year-old girl near Kollam. The detention took place close to Tenkasi.

Two men and a woman who also live close to Kollam are among the three people brought into prison, according to police sources, and it is believed that more people were involved in the kidnapping.

There was also that the three belong to the same family but official confirmation is awaited, IANS reported.

The police have also seized two cars and an auto rickshaw into custody, believed to be used in the crime.

The three have now been brought to a police camp at Adoor and the questioning has begun.

Meanwhile, sources point out that the motive behind this kidnapping is some financial dealing with the kidnapped girl’s father which went awry.

On Friday morning, a three-member police probe arrived at the house of the girl and took statements from her father and mother.

The girl, along with her 8-year-old brother, was returning from the tuition centre on Monday when she was kidnapped by a gang, travelling in a white car, after pushing her brother away.

On Tuesday, a woman left the minor girl on the ground in Kollam. Later after two days of being under medical observation, she was taken to a magistrate where her statement was recorded and returned to her home.

The kidnappers had asked for a ransom of Rs 5 lakh which was then raised to Rs 10 lakh.