Three men from Alangayam town were arrested near Jolarpet on Saturday in connection with the abduction of a school student and an alleged attempt to extort Rs 50 lakh from his family, police said, in a case that has shaken the Tirupattur district region and underscored the growing use of digital tracing tools in kidnapping investigations.
The arrested persons were identified as R. Harish, 22, V. Bhuvanesh, 24, and G. Desingh, 21. According to police, all three are residents of Alangayam town. They were taken into custody by Alangayam police after a coordinated search that led investigators to Bengaluru, where the abducted student was found and safely secured.
The victim, S. Sanjeev Kumar, 17, is a student at a Government Boys Higher Secondary School. Police said he did not return home on September 17, prompting concern among his family. Soon after, his father, T. Sivakumar, a farmer, received a phone call demanding a ransom of Rs 50 lakh in exchange for the boy's release. Sivakumar then approached the Alangayam police and lodged a complaint, setting off a fast-moving investigation.
Special police teams were formed to trace the missing student and identify those behind the ransom demand. Investigators examined CCTV camera footage from multiple locations and tracked mobile phone signals, which eventually helped them narrow down the suspects' movements. The trail led the police to a hideout in Bengaluru, where the student was being kept.
In coordination with local police in Bengaluru, the special team moved in and apprehended the suspects. The student was rescued safely, police said, and the arrested men were later lodged in the sub-jail in Tirupattur town. A probe is under way to determine the full sequence of events, including whether more people were involved in planning or executing the abduction.
The case has drawn attention because of the victim's age and the scale of the ransom demand. A Rs 50 lakh demand is a substantial sum for a farming family and highlights the pressure such crimes can place on ordinary households, especially in rural and semi-urban areas where families may have limited resources and little time to respond to threats. The swift police response appears to have prevented the situation from escalating further.
While police have not yet publicly detailed the motive beyond the extortion attempt, the arrests suggest investigators believe the abduction was planned rather than spontaneous. The use of CCTV footage and mobile signal analysis also points to the increasingly technical nature of modern policing, where digital evidence can be decisive in locating victims and identifying suspects across district and state boundaries.
For the boy's family, the rescue brought relief after days of uncertainty. For local residents, the case is likely to raise fresh concerns about student safety and the vulnerability of young people travelling or moving around town. It also places renewed focus on the need for rapid reporting of missing persons and close coordination between police units when suspects move across jurisdictions.
Police have not released further details on whether the accused knew the victim or his family, and officials are expected to continue questioning the arrested men as the investigation progresses. The case remains under active probe, with authorities likely to examine call records, digital footprints and any accomplices who may have helped in the abduction or ransom attempt.