Vasco, June 10(TNN): In an attempted extortion case, a 35-year-old Vasco businessman was kidnapped from his shop on Friday night. However, with the police moving swiftly and blocking all possible exit routes in South Goa and monitoring all areas, the abductors were forced to release the victim within a few hours.

By Saturday evening, Vasco police arrested all three accused Abdul Kader, 36, from Newvaddem, Salem Khan, 31, Karnataka native residing at Mangor, and Rajendra Girdhari Lal, 27, from Vasco.

Police said Harish Kumar Solanki was kidnapped by three men about 10.15pm from outside his hardware store in Khariawaddo, just after he shut shop for the day.

The incident was immediately reported to Solanki’s family by his helper Arvind Choudhary, who saw two masked men assaulting and pushing Solanki into a waiting car.

By 10.45pm, the family intimated the police. “As soon as Vasco police received the complaint, entire South Goa police, especially Vasco and Margao, were alerted and the kidnapping attempt was foiled,” superintendent of police South Goa Dinraj Govekar said, adding that the victim’s life was saved because of strong police presence all over South Goa, with almost the entire force being involved in nakabandi and sealing of the district’s borders.