Two held after 30-hour kidnap

POLICE WERE questioning two men last night after a businessman was kidnapped and tortured by a gang demanding a pounds 100,000 ransom.

During 30 hours in the hands of his abductors, Charles Seiga, 58, had a gun held at his head, was badly beaten and scalded with boiling water.

The former restaurant owner, from West Derby, Liverpool, was freed after his brother, Joe, handed over pounds 17,000 to the gang in two separate instalments. The money has not been recovered.

Detectives arrested two men, aged 28 and 29, at a house in the Wavertree area of Liverpool. A handgun and a sawn-off shotgun were found but the arrests were made without violence.

Mr Seiga was seized as he left his home at 9am on Friday. At 7.40pm he called his brother saying he had been kidnapped. A police operation, codenamed Corridor, was launched. Mr Seiga was released at 5pm on Saturday.

Merseyside police said theywere investigating whether Mr Seiga's abduction was connected to a recent murder trial in which he was acquitted.