Malappuram: Police have arrested three people, including a minor, in connection with the abduction and assault of a student in Edappal. The trio was under the influence of drugs. Armed with a machete, the perpetrators threatened the student before forcing him onto a bike and taking him to Ponnani, where they brutally beat him.

The accused are identified as Mubashir (19), Muhammed Yasir (18), and a 17-year-old, all residents of Ponnani. According to police, the gang targeted another 17-year-old student from Kuttippala after he refused to share a fellow student’s phone number. Enraged by his refusal, the trio brandished a machete and forcibly abducted him.

Shocking visuals of the abduction, captured by car passengers who witnessed the crime, have surfaced. The footage shows the gang coercing the abductee onto a bike while wielding the weapon. The student initially attempted to escape but was chased down and taken towards Ponnani, where the assault continued.

Investigations revealed that the gang is linked to a local drug ring. Police stated that the abductee and his friends had inadvertently encountered the gang while they were consuming drugs. Three of the students managed to escape, but the gang captured the abductee and demanded that his friends return in exchange for his release.

Acting on information, police pursued the gang. Realising they were being tracked, the assailants released the abductee near Aishwarya Theatre in Ponnani and fled. However, police managed to locate and arrest the suspects.

Changaramkulam SHO S Shine confirmed that one of the accused, Muhammed Yasir, was previously involved in an assault case against police in Ponnani. ''Given the severity of the crime, the accused have been charged with non-bailable offences under the Arms Act and kidnapping,'' the SHO said.