Police rescues girl, on lookout for kidnappers

CHENNAI: A 19-year-old engineering student, who was kidnapped by a ‘phone friend’ for a ransom of Rs 5 lakh, was tracked down in Karnataka through cellphone signals and rescued on Friday. Police are searching for the ‘phone friend’ and his associates, who absconded.Priya (name changed), a native of Puducherry, was doing her second year of engineering in a private engineering college at Thandalam. On June 7, she was kidnapped after an exam. Her agriculturist father Subramaniam (51) received calls demanding a ransom of Rs 5 lakhs, failing which the Priya would be killed.Following a complaint filed with the suburban police, three police teams tracked the tower signals of the calls Subramaniam had received. They then travelled to Sathyamangalam, Erode, Gobichettipalayam while another team went to Karnataka following a tip that she could have been taken there,  a senior police official said. A team found Priya in Kollegal and rescued her. Priya revealed that she had made friends with Prabhu (25) from Sathyamangalam six months ago, over the phone. She met him on June 7 but he said he was kidnapping her, threatening her brother’s life if she did not go along. Prabhu sent her to Mysore with one of his associates and returned to Sathyamangalam. Priya was left in Kollegal after the kidnappers learnt the police was after them. “Prabhu was a repeat offender and had cases against him in Sathyamangalam,” police said.