JOHOR BARU: A Singaporean fugitive, who had been hiding in Malaysia for three months, fell victim himself when he was kidnapped while in hiding here.
Bukit Aman CID director Comm Datuk M. Kumar said that police uncovered this when they rescued a 33-year-old man and his 28-year-old Singaporean girlfriend from a location in Johor Baru on Aug 11.
"Police have since arrested six local suspects, including a woman, and recovered an array of items, including ransom money and items totalling RM264,440," he said, during a press conference here on Wednesday (Aug 12)
Comm Kumar said initial investigations showed that one of the kidnappers had assisted the Singaporean man who had entered the country illegally since May this year.
The man's girlfriend is believed to have entered the country legally.
He added that the local suspects had turned on both the victims several days ago, before the man's mother lodged a report about getting a ransom call on Aug 10.
"The kidnappers are believed to have kept the two Singaporeans for a few days at an undisclosed location before they called the man's mother demanding S$80,000 (RM250, 000).
"They also injured the man on both his thighs to show the family that they were serious about the kidnapping," he said, adding that some of the money was also banked into the victim's account.
It is learnt that the Singaporean had evaded his parole for a drug offence.
Comm Kumar said a police task force then managed to track down and rescued the victims at a supermarket on Aug 11 at about 6pm.
"A suspect in his 40s was also nabbed during the exchange of ransom monies," he said, adding that police arrested five others in a series of raids in Johor Baru.
"At least five of those arrested have past criminal records for CID and drugs," he said.
Comm Kumar added that four of the suspects tested positive for drugs, and even the two victims also tested positive for drugs.
Items seized included 10 mobile phones, S$12,000 in cash (RM37,000), RM41,000 in cash, a Rolex watch, a chain and a car.
The police are also investigating how the victim managed to enter Malaysia illegally without documents.
"He has been remanded for 14 days under the Immigration Act," he said, noting that this was the second case of police being able to free a Singaporean kidnap victim within a week, thanks to their close cooperation with the Singapore Police Force (SPF).
In the earlier case, the rescued victims in Alor Setar involved a 72-year-old Singaporean man and a 33-year-old Chinese woman.
Comm Kumar said the six suspects were being investigated under Section 12 of the Kidnapping Act 1961.
