A woman from the Northern Sri Lankan town of Puvarasankulam who was abducted by four men for a ransom of 500,000 rupees was rescued and her captivators taken into police custody on Tuesday (14), police said.
Police had received a complaint on Monday (13) that the woman had gone missing and was being held in a house against her will, the police media division said.
The abductors had telephoned the victim’s daughter and demanded 500,000 rupees in order to release the woman. They had then threatened to kill the woman if the ransom was not paid.
Police who had gone in under the guise of people known to the woman to pay the ransom managed to rescue the woman, and her four abductors – aged between 26 and 49 and all residents of the northern province – were arrested, police said.
The suspects were produced in the High Court of Vavuniya on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka is going through its worst economic crisis since independence and analysts have expressed fears of an increase in crime as living costs soar.