Bystanders foil kidnap bid and nab suspects
Up in smoke: A member of the Fire and Rescue Department’s forensics division inspecting the burnt van used in the kidnapping.
PETALING JAYA: They planned for a kidnap but it went awry when the two suspects were caught by the public even before they could demand for a ransom.
On Tuesday at about 6.30pm, two men in a white van drove up to the female victim as she was driving along Jalan Sierramas, near an international school there.
The victim, who is the daughter of a businessman and the manager for her family’s curtain making business, was taken out of her car and forced into the waiting van before it sped off.
However, members of the public who witnessed the kidnapping and heard screams for help, gave chase on cars and motorcycles.
That gave the kidnappers cold feet and caused them to release the victim a few kilometres away.
While some attended to the victim, the rest continued to give chase, until the kidnapper’s van lost control while it was en route to Jalan Kuala Selangor.
The van then caught fire.
“Both suspects were caught by the public and surrendered to the police,” Sungai Buloh OCPD Supt Abdul Aziz Awang Darus told reporters yesterday.
Supt Abdul Aziz said the duo, in their 20s, were first time offenders, but had planned the kidnapping for about a month.
It is said that one of the suspects had a gambling habit, and that the kidnapping was meant to pay off crippling debts.
Supt Abdul Aziz said the vehicle used in the incident was found to have been stolen earlier in the day, and that the kidnappers had set aside RM2,000 to make a quick getaway if the kidnapping failed.
He said police also found a suitcase, believed to have been intended to hide the victim during the kidnapping, as well as the ransom letters, written in both Chinese and Malay. They had intended to demand a ransom of RM5,000,000.
Supt Abdul Aziz denied claims on social media that the victim was a young school student who was kidnapped at the school.
“That is not true. The victim was only driving along the road there, on the way back from work,” said Supt Abdul Aziz.
Investigations are still underway to ascertain any connections between the victim and the suspects.
