Kidnappers bungle and free victim before taking ransom

PENANG: A group of kidnappers bungled big time when they released a 16-year-old schoolboy in Sungai Petani before their accomplices could pick up the RM50,000 ransom on the island.

Now, they don't have the money and poilce are hot on their trail.

At least three kidnappers abducted the Form Four student while he was waiting for his school bus outside his house in Jalan Besi here about 7am last Wednesday.

He was bundled into a car and driven to Sungai Petani.

His businessman father, in his 50s, received a phone call asking for a ransom of RM200,000 for the release of his son.

The businessman managed to persuade the kidnapper to lower the ransom to RM50,000. A drop-off point and time were agreed upon after he was warned not to alert the police about the matter.

While waiting for the kidnappers to turn up at about 9pm, the father received a call from his son telling him he was safe in Sungai Petani.

The boy had approached a passer-by and told him what had occurred.

He was then taken to a nearby police station where he waited for his parents to bring him home.

Police believe the kidnappers had failed to coordinate among themselves and the boy was released before the ransom was collected.

George Town OCPD Asst Comm Azam Abd Hamid, who confirmed the incident, said police were now closing in on the kidnappers.

Source: The Star Online