Visakhapatnam MP's wife & son kidnapped for ransom, rescued hours later

Visakhapatnam, June 15: Wife and son of YSR Congress Party MP M.V.V. Satyanarayana and his auditor were kidnapped in Andhra Pardesh's Visakhapatnam, but acting swiftly the police rescued the trio within hours, police said on Thursday.

The MP's wife, Jyothi and their son Sharad were kidnapped by a gang, which demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore. When the MP's aide and auditor G. Venkateshwar Rao had gone to a place to handover the money, he too was kidnapped.

Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Trivikram Verma said all the persons were rescued within a few hours after they received the information. They are all safe, he said. A couple of police officers sustained minor injuries in the rescue operation.

It was immediately not clear as to when the MP's family members were kidnapped, but the police learnt about the auditor's kidnapping on Thursday.

Police arrested rowdy-sheeter Hemanth Kumar and another person for the kidnap, which created a sensation in the coastal city.

The police traced the kidnappers with the help of their mobile phone signals and rescued the MP's family members and aide on the Eluru-Amalapuram road. The kidnappers were apprehended after a chase and a police vehicle was also damaged in the operation.

The police commissioner said the information about the kidnapping of Venkateshwar Rao was received around 8 a.m. and by 12.30 p.m., the police rescued all the three persons.

The police were on the lookout for another accused. The police officer said the details of the case will be announced later in the day.

The MP was not in the city at the time of kidnapping. Satyanarayana, who was in Hyderabad, was rushing to Visakhapatnam.

Further details were awaited.