South Denpasar Police arrested 10 people suspected of abducting, torturing and killing a Korean businessman. The suspects include four South Korean citizens, who told police the victim owed them Rp 30 billion.
The South Korean suspects have been identified as Kim Dong Soo, Joo Jia Tai, Bay Yon Chul and Young Jung Jay. The other six suspects are local residents who are members of an organization that provides unofficial security services, including personal protection and debt collection. They were identified as Jaya, Merta, Armed, Andre, Angga and Gaian.
"Young Jung Jay, Angga and Gaian are the most recent arrests we made in the case," South Denpasar Police chief Adj. Snr. Comr. Alit Widana said Saturday.
Young Jung Jay reportedly put the other Korean suspects into contact with the local thugs, he said.
Police also seized three cars allegedly used in the abduction.
Alit Widana announced the first arrests Friday at South Denpasar Police headquarters. He praised his detectives for breaking the case so quickly.
Ali Widana also briefed Senior Superintendent Hong Yong Kyu, a high-ranking police officer at the Korean Embassy in Jakarta.
"We are currently trying to gain more information from the suspects to determine what actually happened prior to the death of the victim, including the possible involvement of other persons," Alit Widana said as quoted by Antara on Friday.
The case came to the police's attention Thursday when the three Korean suspects --Kim Dong Soo, Joo Jia Tai and Bay Yon Chul-- reported the death of the victim, Kim Jung Tai, 52. They claimed the victim had committed suicide by hanging himself in the bathroom of Villa Dampati in Sanur. The villa was the temporary residence of the three suspects during their stay in Bali.
Forensic officers and investigating detectives, however, found too many discrepancies in the story and at the scene of the incident to call the case a suicide.
"After interviewing 11 witnesses, my detectives were quite confident that they were dealing with a homicide and not a suicide," Alit Widana said.
He specifically praised the victim's servant as a valuable witness. The servant kept telling detectives that the victim had been abducted from his rented house on Jl. Danau Tempe, Sanur, about a week before his death.
"Following marathon questioning and field investigation, my detectives identified the suspects and started apprehending them," Alit Widana said.
Based on statements of the suspects and witnesses, the detectives drew up a time line for the crime, which started on May 14, when the three Korean suspects arrived in Bali. They were looking for the victim, who allegedly owed them Rp 30 billion from an Internet joint-venture.
Upon their arrival they contacted Young Jung Jay and asked him to hire six local bodyguards. They paid the bodyguards Rp 1 million each. The Koreans tasked the bodyguards with determining the victim's whereabouts.
They then visited the victim at his house. The victim refused to pay the debt and the three Korean suspects allegedly ordered the bodyguards to take the victim to a still unidentified location in Jimbaran.
There, the victim was allegedly tortured until he paid his debt. The victim said he did not have the money and he was allegedly held captive at the location for six days, until being moved to Villa Dampati in Sanur on May 21.
There, the suspects allegedly beat the victim to death.
"How that exactly happened and the role each suspect played in the gruesome events are the focus of our ongoing investigation," Alit Widana said.
