Debt crime, wife kidnapped, tortured for 10 days
Georgetown: Accusing her husband of not paying her debts, a woman went through a terrifying moment when she was kidnapped, locked up and tortured for 10 days in a house.
The unfortunate woman was later successfully rescued by the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department, Penang JSJ and Selangor JSJ last Sunday.
Penang Police Chief Datuk Khaw Kok Chin said that earlier an Indonesian man made a report at the Kinrara Police Station, Selangor, claiming that his wife, who was on holiday in Georgetown, had been kidnapped by a group of unknown individuals.
He said the man claimed his wife was locked up and injured at an unknown location and the suspect demanded money amounting to RM540,000 to release the victim.
"Acting on information, the victim was rescued in Operation Scorpion through a raid on a house in Shah Alam, Selangor, at 5.10am.
"They used different vehicles to take the victims to Shah Alam so that their movements were difficult to detect.
"Also rescued was another man who claimed to be locked up for failing to settle a debt and the two victims were aged 36 and 27 respectively," he said at a press conference at the Penang Police Contingent Headquarters (IPK), here, today.
Kok Chin said, following that on the same day between 6 am and 10.30 pm, the police managed to arrest 14 suspects suspected of being involved in the case.
He said, they consisted of 10 men and two local women and two foreign men aged between 23 and 70 years old.
"They were arrested around Penang, Perak, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor and urine screening tests on all the suspects were negative for drugs while five of them had criminal and drug-related past records.
"All the suspects, including the 35-year-old mastermind, were remanded for seven days until September 23 to assist the investigation," he added.
Among those seized were four cars, mobile phones, cable ties, needles, iron bars, iron chains, pipe rubber and cash amounting to RM4,800.
He said, the investigation found that the complainant, who worked as a contractor in Malaysia, was in debt to the suspect and had already paid RM50,750 through two transactions, but the victim was still not released.
He said that there were injuries on the body of both victims believed to be the result of abuse by the suspect while locked up.
"There are wounds on the victim's hands believed to have been lit with a cigarette butt while the nails were pierced with a needle and the feet and hands were also tied using cable ties and iron chains.
"The police are still investigating whether the suspect has anything to do with the Along syndicate. The debt needs to be cleared, but the way the suspect is doing it is inappropriate," he said.
The victim is currently still being treated in hospital and is in a stable condition and the case is being investigated in accordance with Section 3(1) of the Kidnapping Act 1961.
Yesterday, Harian Metro, Director of the Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department, Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain, said that the investigation found that the foreign national was involved in a transaction but it was abandoned half way through, causing his family members to be kidnapped.
