Abducted teenager has been freed and his kidnappers nabbed by police

IPOH: A 17-year-old teenager who was abducted in Penang early in September was rescued by police, and his abductors who had demanded a ransom of RM3 million have been nabbed.
Perak Police Chief Datuk Hasnan Hassan said the boy was found in a car with two of his kidnappers in Penang at 10.30pm on Sept 5. The teenager, whose hands were tied and eyes blindfolded was not injured.
"We picked up 12 people aged between 17 and 36 including three women in Penang and Johor, five of them have been released on police bail," he told reporters here yesterday.
The remaining abductors are still in police custody pending instructions from the Deputy Police Prosecutor on the next course of action.
According to Hasnan, one of the women possessed an auxiliary police force pass from Singapore.
Hasnan said Taiping police received the abduction report from the victim's father on Sept 3. The 43-year-old man runs a second hand goods business in Taiping.
The boy was kidnapped a day earlier in Penang and the abductors demanded RM3 million through 10 phone calls made between Sept 3 and 6.
"The kidnappers threatened to kill the boy or injure him if their demands were not met," Hasnan said.
Following the incident, a task force was formed headed by Perak CID chief Datuk Gan Tian Kee.
Hasnan said the ransom sum was reduced to RM300,000 after several negotiations.
On Sept 5, the abductors directed the father to pay the money in Johor Baru, and warned him not to alert the police.
"After the ransom was paid, a police team picked up eight abductors in six raids in Johor Baru. On the same day two more suspects together with the victim were spotted in a car in Penang. Later, Penang police detained two more people in Butterworth in relation with the case," Hasnan said.
According to Hasnan, the police have only recovered RM175,400 of the RM300,000 ransom paid to the abductors, and added that police are tracing the remaining amount.