MUAR: Three friends have been charged for kidnapping a doctor from a hospital here in an attempt to attain a ransom of RM400,000.
Businessman M. Prem Seegar, 33, foreman P. Raymond Raj, 21, and lorry driver T. Sanjiv Kumar, 20, had allegedly committed the offence at the parking lot of the Hospital Pakar Sultanah Fatimah around 10pm on May 6.
The trio were charged for wrongfully detaining and carting 25-year-old Anita Maniam from the hospital car park with the intention of obtaining a RM400,000 ransom.
The non-bailable offence was charged under Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1961 (Act 365), read along with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
All three accused acknowledged that they understood the charge, which was read out before Magistrate Suzana Mokhtar here on Tuesday.
If found guilty, the trio could face the gallows or sentenced to life imprisonment.
Suzana later fixed July 30 for next mention pending chemical and forensic reports as well as telephone data records.
Deputy public prosecutor A. Shaarmini prosecuted the case while Raymond was represented by defense counsel Haresh Mahadevan.
Haresh also stood in for Prem's lawyer Maniam Nair, who was not present at the time of hearing while Sanjiv was not represented.
