Date:25/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/25/stories/2008042555451100.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Bid to kidnap Country Club chief foiled, five persons arrested

Staff Reporter

Gangsters were to demand ransom of Rs.20 crores

HYDERABAD: Police claimed to have foiled an attempt to abduct the chairman of Country Club Y. Rajeev Reddy with the arrest of five persons in the State capital on Thursday. The arrested gangsters were to demand a ransom of Rs.20 crore for the release of the high profile socialite of Hyderabad, police said.

Dubai connection

A team of the city police task force surprised the five-member abductors’ team near Jubilee Bus Station, when they were waiting for a car to be used in the planned abduction. One of the alleged conspirators, Syed Abed Hussain alias Ali Bhai had Dubai connections and is an undertrial after his arrest in the sensational kidnap of Sumedha in Jubilee Hills some eight years ago. He was also involved in abduction cases in Maharashtra, a police press release said on Thursday evening.

Weapons seized

A crude weapon, three toy guns, five sticks of gelatine and electronic detonators were seized from the arrested persons. They included Patlolla Sudershan Reddy 51, of Tandur in Ranga Reddy district, Ch. Baapu Reddy 36, and B. Shekar 37, both from Medak district, K. Prabhakar 27, of Amberpet and V. Praveen Kumar 23, of Kushaiguda. Sudershan Reddy is the brother of Patlolla Goverdhan Reddy, the self-styled chief of Revolutionary Patriotic Tigers (RPT) and allegedly responsible for more than 65 offences, including murder and extortion.

Goverdhan Reddy and Ali Bhai, now lodged in Chanchalguda prison were stated to have planned the kidnap of Mr. Rajeev Reddy. As per the plan, the abductors would form themselves into two groups. The first group would consist of Ali Bhai’s associate Ajju and four others. This group was to be kidnap

Mr. Rajeev Reddy from his residence in Jubilee Hills and hand him over to the second group on the city outskirts. The task force sleuths, led by DCP V.B. Kamalasan Reddy, arrested the second group.

After the kidnap, Ali Bhai’s associates were to make a telephonic demand for a ransom of Rs.20 crore from Dubai using a satellite phone. The ransom thus collected was to be shared equally, police said.