Former convict arrested in eastern Georgia for taking grandmother hostage

Police in eastern Georgia have arrested a man accused of taking a family member hostage and threatening to kill her unless his demands were met.

The Interior Ministry on Wednesday said officers from the Kakheti Police Department in eastern Georgia detained a 31-year-old man, identified as G.K., who has a prior criminal record and was serving a suspended sentence at the time of the incident.

The suspect took his grandmother, a 74-year-old woman, hostage at their home in the town of Sighnagi. He demanded that his former wife be brought back to Georgia from abroad, threatening to kill the woman if his request was not fulfilled.

The crime is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.