STOCKHOLM, Aug 17 (Reuters) - The kidnapped son of a top Swedish businessman has been freed unharmed after a big ransom was paid to abductors who held him for four days and threatened to kill him, a Swedish newspaper reported on Saturday.
Erik Westerberg, the 23-year-old son of auto parts maker Autoliv's Chief Executive Lars Westerberg, was seized on Monday and released late on Friday, tabloid Expressen reported.
Expressen said a ransom of between 10 and 20 million Swedish crowns ($1.07 to $2.13 million) was handed over in Luxembourg, after which police there made some arrests. It quoted a police source as saying arrests were also made in Stockholm, but gave no details.
Kidnapping is extremely rare in Sweden, considered one of the world's safest countries. Neither police nor an Autoliv spokesman were immediately contactable to confirm the report.
The kidnappers telephoned Lars Westerberg on Tuesday to demand a ransom, telling the multi-millionaire his son would be killed if the family contacted police, Expressen said.
But the family immediately called police.
"We saw no other way out, we could never have made it alone, not mentally nor in practice," Lars Westerberg was quoted as saying.
Asked how he and his wife Birgitta felt during the ordeal, he said: "Surreal, panic. You think the whole thing is a movie... You move between frustration, hope, tears and sorrow."
Expressen said Lars Westerberg took the cash ransom to a location in Luxembourg. After it was handed over, his son was freed in the Stockholm region.
The kidnapping was held secret from the public until the drama ended.