Kidnapped businessman’s family member among 13 arrested in Johor

ISKANDAR PUTERI: A relative of a kidnap victim was among 13 suspects including three foreigners arrested by a special Johor police task force.

“The victim, aged 59, lodged a police report on Oct 13 stating that he had been kidnapped at his house in Johor Baru. Following that, state police together with Bukit Aman, set up a special task force to investigate the matter,” said Johor police chief Comm Datuk M. Kumar.

He said the 13 suspects aged between 23 and 58 were arrested in various places in the operation carried out on Tuesday night (Oct 22).

Those arrested were 10 males and three females including two foreign men and one foreign woman, he told a press conference during a community policing programme’s Deepavali celebration at the Iskandar Puteri police headquarters here on Wednesday (Oct 23).

“Police believe that one of those that we have arrested is the mastermind behind the kidnapping,” he said, adding that four of the suspects have prior records against them.

Comm Kumar added that police seized several items including mobile phones and an ATM card from the suspects.

He however declined to elaborate further on the matter as the case was still being investigated under the Kidnapping Act 1961 and urged the public not to speculate on the incident.

“About 10 of the suspects are being remanded until this Tuesday (Oct 29) while police will be remanding the three other suspects at Johor Baru court on Thursday (Oct 24),” he added.

According to a report by China Press, the kidnappers forced the family of the victim, a property developer, to pay a RM20mil ransom for his safe return.

The developer was preparing for a business trip when he was ambushed at around 5am outside his home, right before his scheduled flight from Senai Airport.

It was learned that the kidnapping was committed on Oct 12 with the victim being released 14 hours later after a ransom was paid. He lodged the police report several hours afterwards.

Three masked men confronted him, with one hitting him with a stick, another covering his head, and a third man holding him at gunpoint and restraining his hands before forcing him into a car.

A mobile phone was left outside the victim’s house by the kidnappers, which was later used to demand a RM30mil ransom from his family.

Following negotiations, the ransom was reduced to RM20mil.

The family managed to gather RM5mil, which they deposited at a residential area in Taman Perling, while the remaining amount was wired through an acquaintance in Singapore.

The victim told the police that he was held by four kidnappers, including a woman but could not determine their nationalities.