Abducted dentist from Hyderabad rescued in Andhra, 7 held

Police have arrested seven members of a gang for allegedly kidnapping a doctor from Hyderabad. The doctor was rescued from Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, a day after he was allegedly kidnapped.

Hyderabad: A doctor from Hyderabad was rescued from Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh a day after he was allegedly kidnapped from his clinic here by an inter-state gang, police said on Wednesday.

The seven members of the gang have been arrested, and search is on for the prime accused and five others, the police said.

The kidnappers, demanded Rs 10 crore as ransom to be paid in bitcoins for the release of the 56-year-old dentist, they said.

The prime accused is a close relative of the doctor's wife, they said.

After learning about the dentists financial status, the accused hatched a plan along with other gang members from Maharashtra, Karnataka and from Hyderabad to abduct him to extort money by threatening him and his family, the police said.

The accused formed two separate gangs to carry out his plan one for abducting the dentist and handing him over to the other gang which was to shift the abducted victim to a location in Karnataka till the ransom was received, Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar said.

As part of the plan, five burqa-clad persons forcibly took the dentist away in a car after injuring him with toy pistols and kept him in a room at Kukatpally area here till late Tuesday.

The kidnappers then sent a voice message to the dentist's family demanding the ransom within 48 hours, police said.

Subsequently, the doctor was handed over to the other gang which proceeded towards Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, the dentist's relatives complained to the police.

Twelve police teams were formed and they moved into Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana and started apprehending the accused.

Finally at Anantapur, the dentist was safely rescued, the police said.

The dentist had been constructing a building with the clinic on the ground floor and the floors above were kept open for lease. Learning about this, the prime accused decided to abduct the doctor for money, they added.

(With inputs from PTI)