HYDERABAD: A real estate businessman and his friend hailing from Vijayawada were rescued from the captivity of a six-member kidnapper gang near Ramoji Film City (RFC) on Sunday. The police recovered Rs.14 lakhs collected as ransom, two toy pistols and four mobile phones. Arrested persons — T. Nagaraju, P. Ramakrishna, T.P. Brahmachari and B. Radhakrishna — all natives of Nalgonda district, and K. Ramulu and Narender, both from Mahabubnagar district, were nabbed after the police raided their hideout near RFC and freed businessman Ramesh and his friend Srinivas.

T. Nagaraju, kingpin of the gang, hatched a plan with help of his associate Radha Krishna while undergoing imprisonment in Cherlapally jail, to kidnap bigwigs and make easy money. Accordingly, Nagaraju formed a gang after his release from the jail in August this year and collected details about Ramesh through his associate Mohan Rao, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Task Force) G. Sudheer Babu said here on Sunday.

The DCP said the gangsters offered Ramesh to sell a piece of land in the city and requested him to come to the city. On September 5, they took him and Srinivas to Singareni Colony, near RFC, to show the land and kidnapped them.

The trap

The gang then began demanding ransom from Ramesh's family. Even after taking Rs.10 lakhs, the kidnappers demanded more. Based on the information given by Ramesh's relative, the police laid a trap for the kidnappers at a theatre in L.B. Nagar and took them into custody. The police later raided the gang's hideout and rescued Ramesh and Srinivas.

The police said Nagaraju was involved in eight dacoities and a murder case.

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