Kidnapping that gripped Kerala ends in arrest of couple and their YouTuber daughter

On Friday, police traced the three accused – businessman K R Padmakumar (52), his wife Anitha Kumar (45), and their daughter, YouTuber and social media influencer P Anupama (20) – to Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu. The three were residents of Chathannoor in Kollam. Their arrest was registered on Saturday.

It was a ransom call made by Anitha, demanding Rs 10 lakh from the girl’s family, that eventually led police to the accused, after a local resident recognised her voice.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) M R Ajith Kumar said the family was desperate for money because of the debt racked up by Premkumar.

Padmakumar, an engineering graduate, ran a local cable TV service and also did farming, but faced a severe financial crisis during the pandemic, the ADGP said. He had purportedly borrowed money to the tune of around Rs 5 crore, and needed Rs 10 lakh immediately to tide things over with his creditors.

“The abduction was originally planned a year back… They then revived the plan one-and-a-half months ago. They were looking for targets in a remote area, away from public attention,” the ADGP said. According to him, the accused had zeroed in on the six-year-old girl days before her abduction.

Padmakumar’s daughter, Anupama, is popular on YouTube and other social media, and had been earning between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lakh a month until recently before her content was demonetised, ADGP Kumar said.

The reason for the demonetisation was not made clear.

When her payments stopped coming through, “the daughter, who initially objected to the crime, also stood with her parents’ plan,” Kumar said.

On the precautions taken by the accused ahead of the abduction, the ADGP said: “The car that the family used to abduct the girl had a fake number plate, which they had prepared last year. A second fake number plate was made recently.”

According to police, they would take the car out regularly to look for a child to abduct. They would change number plates mid-journey, and were careful not to use mobile phones to communicate about this matter, police said. Last week, they spotted the six-year-old and her older brother walking down the road on their way to tuition classes, and identified her as a target.

According to police, they would then repeatedly survey the area, and twice tried to abduct her before pulling out at the last moment because others were around. Finally on Monday, they found the siblings alone and managed to drag the six-year-old into their car before driving away, police said. They initially covered her mouth, and then got her to calm down by saying they were taking her to her father.

The next step for the abductors was to seek ransom from the girl’s family, the ADGP said. Leaving the girl at home in Chathannoor with their daughter, the couple went to Kollam’s Parippally, after which Anitha took an auto to go to a shop. After making some purchases from there, she made a call to the girl’s mother from the shop owner’s phone and demanded Rs 10 lakh ransom. She had earlier taken the mother’s number from the girl, police said.

Later, when TV channels got hold of the recorded call and started telecasting it, a local resident suspected that it was a voice that he knew. After he shared his suspicion with police, it led investigators to turn their attention to Anitha. Subsequent analysis of call details helped police find more evidence to suspect Anitha.

On Monday, after the couple got back to their house, they realised that the abduction had become sensational news. They also realised that police were actively searching for the girl. This put them in a panic and they decided to abandon the plan.

At around 11 am on Tuesday, they took the girl to Kollam city. After parking the car, Anitha Kumari took the girl in an auto to a ground in the city where she managed to drop her off without being noticed. Police, who had launched a massive search for the girl, soon located her at the ground and reunited her with her parents.

Meanwhile, the three accused decided to leave Kollam, and headed to Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu where a family friend had a farm.

However, police had already identified Anitha as the woman behind the ransom call, and found she had left the state with her husband and daughter. After tracking them for a couple of days, they were located and taken into custody in Tenkasi.

The three accused were charged with abduction, wrongful confinement and conspiracy. They were produced before a magistrate court, which remanded them in judicial custody for two weeks.