Cabbie released after a week in custody over kidnap case
Hanizan Mohamed Radzi, the driver who brought the five-year-old boy back to his family after he was found wandering on the road following his abduction in Kajang on Oct 9, was released by police after a week-long custody.
Although released by police for having no link with a toddler’s kidnapping, taxi driver says his one-week detention brought shame on his family.
PETALING JAYA: The taxi driver who drove a kidnap victim back to his home but was later arrested by the police on suspicion of being a part of the boy’s kidnapping earlier in the day, has begged the police to clear his name since he was not involved in the crime.
In a report in The Star Online, Hanizan Mohamed Radzi, 41, pleaded with the police to “clear” his name as his arrest and subsequent one-week detention by police had brought great embarrassment to his family.
“My children are embarrassed for me. Please, please clear my name.
“I just drive a taxi. I didn’t do anything,” he said, looking weary as he was led out of the magistrate’s court today.
According to a report in Astro Awani, police had decided to release the taxi driver after they could find no link between him and the five-year-old boy’s kidnapping hours earlier in Sungai Chua, Kajang, last Friday.
Speaking to the news portal, Selangor CID chief Mohd Adnan Abdullah said, ”So far we could not find any links between the taxi driver and the boy’s kidnapping case.”
He also said the taxi driver would be released on police bail under Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Last week, police arrested Hanizan and three others, including the mastermind behind the kidnapping, who demanded a RM300,000 ransom which was paid by the victim’s parents.
The suspects, aged between 28 and 45, were arrested separately but on the same day of the kidnapping and will be charged in court today under Section 3(1) of the Kidnapping Act 1961 for abduction, wrongful restraint or wrongful confinement for ransom.
A video of the kidnapping, that went viral showed how the boy and his mother were stopped by a man pretending to ask for directions, as the two were on their way to the boy’s kindergarten.
After another man approaches them, the boy is abruptly snatched and bundled into an awaiting car that speeds off.
Despite the mother giving chase, she is seen falling by the pavement unable to save her son.
However at 5.35pm the same day, taxi driver Hanizan, after having spotted the boy wandering the streets, drives him home to his parents.
