ISKANDAR PUTERI: A 46-year-old Indian national was kidnapped from a hotel room here and blackmailed for RM5,000 after allegedly getting involved in an affair with a woman.
Iskandar Puteri OCPD Asst Comm M. Kumarasan said a report was lodged by the victim’s 30-year-old friend, also an Indian national, at about 11.08pm on Jan 19.
“The friend reported that the victim was taken away by unknown individuals from a hotel room in Gelang Patah at about 3am on the same day.
“The friend was later contacted by one of the suspects at about 1pm, demanding RM5,000 in exchange for the victim’s release,” he said in a statement.
Acting on the information received, a police team traced and rescued the victim in Gelang Patah at about 12.15am on Jan 20, less than 24 hours after the report was lodged.
“Following the rescue, we arrested a local man and woman, aged 26 and 32, in Permas Jaya between 1am and 4am on the same day. A third suspect, aged 30, is still at large.
“Investigations revealed that the victim was blackmailed by three suspects after he was deceived into an affair with the female suspect,” he said, adding that the female suspect is also the girlfriend of the male suspect, who is still at large.
Police also seized a car, three mobile phones, a jewellery box and receipt, jewellery, three bags, a laptop, an access card and a documents file during the arrests.
ACP Kumarasan added that the male suspect had prior criminal and drug-related records, and urine tests found both suspects were positive for methamphetamine.
He said the suspects are under remand for six days to facilitate investigations under Section 363 of the Penal Code for kidnapping and Section 384 for extortion.
He added that police are continuing their hunt for the third suspect.
