Palakkad: Police traced a businessman who was reportedly kidnapped at gunpoint to an isolated house here on Sunday. Muhammad Ali was abducted by an unidentified group on Saturday night while travelling in his luxury vehicle from Wandoor in Malappuram to the Cochin airport in Nedumbassery.

According to the FIR filed at the Chalissery police station, a Toyota Innova intercepted Ali’s Toyota Vellfire on Dubair Road at Thirumittakkode near Shoranur. A four-member masked gang allegedly smashed the car’s side window, pointed a firearm at him, pulled him out of the vehicle, and forced him into their car before fleeing the spot.

A police team led by the Shoranur DySP launched an investigation using CCTV footage that captured the movements of the vehicles involved. Officers located Ali in an abandoned house at Kothakurussi in the early hours of Sunday.

Police said the businessman’s relatives had earlier received a ransom demand for his release. Ali, who owns several business ventures in Kerala and abroad, was admitted to Ottapalam hospital with serious injuries he sustained during the assault.

Investigators suspect a business rivalry may have led to the abduction. Police will record Ali’s detailed statement as part of the ongoing inquiry.