Palakkad (Kerala): A businessman allegedly abducted at gunpoint was located and rescued from an isolated house in Palakkad in the early hours of Sunday, police said.

Muhammad Ali was travelling from Wandoor in Malappuram to the Cochin International Airport on Saturday night in his luxury vehicle when he was intercepted by an unknown group, according to police.

The FIR filed at the Chalissery police station states that a Toyota Innova blocked Ali’s Toyota Vellfire on Dubair Road in Thirumittakkode near Shoranur. A four-member masked gang reportedly smashed the car’s side window, aimed a gun at him, forced him into their vehicle, and sped away.

Investigators, led by the Shoranur DySP, tracked the movement of the vehicles using CCTV footage. Ali was eventually found inside an abandoned house in Kothakurussi, a police official said.

Police also confirmed that Ali’s relatives had received a ransom demand for his release.

Ali, who runs multiple businesses in Kerala and overseas, is currently hospitalised with serious injuries reportedly inflicted by the abductors. Investigators suspect business rivalry could be a key motive, and his statement will be taken once he is medically fit.

PTI