Bukit Aman connects a dismantled Alor Setar kidnapping ring targeting foreigners to a previous abduction involving two Chinese nationals in Kuala Lumpur.
KUALA LUMPUR: The kidnapping ring that was dismantled in Alor Setar last Friday is believed to be linked to another abduction case that occurred in the capital the previous month.
Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department Director Datuk M. Kumar revealed that the Kuala Lumpur case involved two Chinese women. One of the victims managed to escape and file a police report.
“Police raided a house and discovered another 33-year-old Chinese woman being held captive by the kidnappers,” he told reporters during a press conference today.
Kumar explained that the group specifically targeted foreigners and is believed to have used social media to trap their victims by offering jobs and social escort services.
In the case of the 72-year-old Singaporean man who was rescued in Alor Setar last Friday, he said the syndicate had deceived the victim by promising him a well-paying job as a consultant in Malaysia.
Kumar said that preliminary investigations into the group revealed that they used Airbnb rental properties to hide and confine their victims.
“Based on our investigation, this group frequently moved from one Airbnb to another. In the Alor Setar case, they checked into the property on Aug 7 and were scheduled to check out the next day,” he said.
Investigations also found that the family of the Singaporean victim had paid SGD15,000 out of the SGD1 million demanded by the kidnappers. The payment was made via transfer to the victim’s own account.
As for the Chinese woman, no payment was made by her family, even though the group had demanded a ransom of USD20,000.
Following the successful operations, Kumar said he believes that the kidnapping syndicate has been completely dismantled.
In a statement last Saturday, Kumar said that two foreign national suspects died in a gunfire exchange during a police operation to rescue two kidnapping victims.
He said the victims, a foreign man and woman, were found blindfolded and handcuffed at a house in Taman Amira, Telaga Bata, Alor Setar, Kedah, at around 8.40 pm on Friday.
Kumar added that a Beretta semi-automatic pistol containing five rounds of ammunition, a revolver containing four rounds, and a long machete were found near the suspects.
Following the incident, he said police arrested six people comprising a local man, four Chinese men, and one Chinese woman, all in their 20s to 40s, in Kedah, Penang, and Kuala Lumpur. All six have been remanded for seven days until Aug 14.
The case is being investigated under Section 3(1) of the Kidnapping Act 1961, Section 307 of the Penal Code, and Section 3 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971.
