Police: Suspect not involved in abduction of Pastor (Updated)

PETALING JAYA: The suspect who was arrested for the abduction of a pastor is expected to be charged tomorrow, according to Selangor CID chief SAC Fadzil Ahmat.
He said the 30-year-old suspect who was arrested in Ampang, Selangor at 3.30am on March 9 was not involved in the abduction of Pastor Raymond Koh Keng Joo.
"The suspect will be charged at the Petaling Jaya Magistrate court under Section 385 of the Penal Code for extortion," he said, adding that the man intended to take advantage of the ransom offer.
He said investigations were still ongoing and he urged those with any information to contact the police.
However, Fadzil remained mum on whether police managed to determine the whereabouts of the pastor.
The suspect had contacted the victim's family on March 9 and asked for an amount of ransom in exchange for his release.
Koh was abducted on Feb 13. Footage retrieved from closed-circuit cameras installed at homes along Jalan 4B/10 showed that over 15 masked men in about six cars and two motorcycles were involved.
The family of Koh on Sunday urged the police not to be distracted from the "real" abductors following the arrest of the suspect.
Koh's wife Susanna Liew Sow Yoke said there has been no significant breakthrough in efforts to find Koh who has been missing for a month.
Koh's family has put up a RM100,000 reward for any information on the matter.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Bar council is troubled by the continued failure and inability of the police to locate and secure the safe release of the pastor.
"Although a month has passed since the abduction, the police appear to have made little headway in locating the missing pastor and apprehending his abductors.
"This is extremely disappointing, as the vicious and outrageous act happened in broad daylight and was caught on video by several close-circuit television cameras.
"The video evidence discloses a highly efficient professional operation that was executed in under a minute," said its president Steven Thiru in a statement today.