Three held for kidnapping and murder of Andaman hotelier in Chennai

CHENNAI: Three people were arrested by Tambaram police for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a hotel owner hailing from Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in July. They were remanded to judicial custody on Monday. Tambaram Police said the accused Mustaqim (32) and Mohammed Sufiyan (19) from Port Blair, and Mohammed Hayan (19) from Kerala, followed Niyamat Ali (49), the hotel owner, to Chennai. Over a business rivalry, they abducted him near Vandalur, murdered and dumped his body in a lake in Odisha, the police said Tambaram Deputy Commissioner A. Pavan Kumar Reddy said two more suspects are still at large and the investigation is ongoing. Ali had arrived in Chennai on July 27 to buy supplies for his hotel. When he failed to respond to calls, his wife lodged a missing complaint at Chennai Airport Police. Investigations traced his movements from Chennai Airport to Anna Salai, Guindy, and Vandalur before the abduction.