SEREMBAN: Three Bangladeshis claimed trial in the Sessions Court here to a joint charge of kidnapping a fellow countryman for ransom.
Kazi Miostofa, 38, Maruf Hossain, 28 and Alim Abdul, 30, pleaded not guilty after the charge was read to them before judge N. Kanageswari on Thursday (April 9).
They were charged, with two others still at large, with kidnapping Roni Hawlader in return for a RM20,000 ransom.
They allegedly committed the offence in front of an outlet along Jalan Dato Sheikh Ahmad here around 1pm on March 22.
The charges were brought under Section 3 (1) of the Kidnapping Act 1961, read together with Section 34 of the same legislation.
Offenders can be jailed between 30 and 40 years, with caning, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Nurul Balkis Zunaidi then told the court the prosecution was not offering bail as it was a non-bailable offence.
However, if the court were to use its discretion, she proposed bail of RM50,000 with two local sureties for each accused and asked the court to order them to surrender their passports.
She also asked the court to order the accused to stay away from the victim and other prosecution witnesses.
Counsel for the trio, Mohd Hanif Hassan, pleaded for bail as the accused were married and their families in Bangladesh relied on them.
He also asked for a reasonable bail amount as the three earned salaries of about RM2,000 each monthly.
Hanif claimed that he was also made to understand that the complainant wished to withdraw his report against his clients.
Judge Kanageswari denied bail and fixed May 7 for next mention.
