KOZHIKODE: Mathoth Meethal Ashraf (37), the expatriate hailing from Oorallur who was kidnapped at gunpoint from his Koyilandy residence early on Tuesday morning, was found injured near a saw mill at Chethukadavu in Kunnamangalam.
Police arrested Noushad, Saifudheen and Mohammed Salik from Koduvally in connection with the incident and booked them for kidnapping, conspiracy and threatening.
Police said that the trio were not part of the fivemember gang who kidnapped Ashraf. It is learnt that police have taken some other persons into custody in connection with the case.
Police said the gang abandoned Ashraf around midnight after the incident was widely reported in the media and police launched an intense search to locate him. Ashraf then approached a nearby house after being let off by the gang and Kunnamangalam police reached the spot and took him to Kozhikode government medical college.
Ashraf was badly beaten up by the gang and one of his legs was fractured. There were also other injuries which police suspect were inflicted on him with some sharp object. Koyilandy inspector of police said that the kidnapping and manhandling of Ashraf was carried out by a quotation gang linked to gold smuggling.
Ashraf, who returned from Saudi Arabia on May 26, admitted to the police that he had worked as a carrier and that he had smuggled gold. Police suspect that the quotation gang that kidnapped him accused him of not handing over the gold he had brought.
Police sources said that a detailed interrogation of Ashraf will be carried out on Thursday. Police hope to zero in on the gang soon, based on the information received from the arrested as well as the CCTV visuals of the kidnapping.
