A man from Kerala who was abducted from City Centre II on Wednesday was rescued in a few hours, police said.

The man, a Kozhikode resident in his late 30s, had come to the city with Abdul Salam, 39, also from Kozhikode, to retrieve a large sum of money.

Salam had allegedly lent the amount to Mussamil Mottemal, from Kerala, for a purported business venture several months ago, an officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said.

Mussamil and his brother Mudassir had called the Kozhikode duo to City Centre II promising to return the money, the officer said.

When the Kozhikode residents, along with another man from Kerala, reached the shopping mall around 3pm on Wednesday, they found a large group of men waiting for them. The Mottemal brothers were nowhere to be seen.

An argument broke out. “In the scuffle, the group forced one of the Kozhikode residents into a car and sped away,” the officer said.

Minutes later, Salam received a call and a man asked him to transfer Rs 2 lakh, failing which his friend would be killed.

Passersby and tea stall owners helped the two find the nearest police station. They reached Eco Park police station and lodged a complaint.

“We tracked the number from where the ransom call had come. Once we could pinpoint the location, we sent a team and rescued the friend within a few hours,” said the officer.

Cops arrested six men from Baguiati and Narayanpur for abducting the man.

It is not yet clear why Salam had lent the money to the Mottemals, a senior officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said.

“We have started an investigation and are probing every angle. The nature of their business is also not very clear yet. We are trying to speak to them but are facing delays because of the language barrier,” said the officer.

The police are trying to track down the Mottemals.