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Kidnapped entrepreneur freed by police
The Jakarta Police freed on Sunday night an entrepreneur, Thalib Abbas, 78, who was taken by force from his house in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, last week and locked up for five days by seven men
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he Jakarta Police freed on Sunday night an entrepreneur, Thalib Abbas, 78, who was taken by force from his house in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, last week and locked up for five days by seven men.
The abductors demanded a ransom of Rp 400 million, claiming that the money was payment for a debt owed by the victim's son.
Jakarta Police chief detective Sr. Comr. Heru Pranoto said in a press conference that his officers had arrested six of eight suspects.
'One of the arrested suspects, identified as MAM alias A, is the mastermind,' he said.
Heru explained that A had given power of attorney to one of the suspects, identified as D, to collect debt amounting to Rp 9.8 billion from Thalib's son, Kemal Rafli, with a commission of 30 percent. D then recruited the other suspects, identified as S alias D, THM alias A, S alias J, ED, P and M for the task. P and M, who are military o
fficers at the Jakarta Military Command, were still at large, the police said.
The seven alleged kidnappers, one of them posing as a police officer, took Thalib from his house in Lenteng Agung, Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, on Tuesday night after they failed to find his son, Kemal.
Thalib was blindfolded and brought to a place, thought to be a house in the Anyer resort area in Banten, and held as a hostage for two nights, according to the victim.
Thalib was then moved to a house in Depok, West Java, where the police officers arrested the suspects and freed him.
According to the police, the family of Thalib had wired money totaling Rp 25 million to a bank account under the name of Muhamad Arifin Ilham, which turned out to have been opened by D using a fake ID card, and reported the kidnapping to the Jakarta Police.
The suspects on Sunday sent Thalib's family a letter via courier demanding the remaining ransom and including a photo of the victim in chains.
During the raid and arrests, the officers confiscated the power of attorney letters that included the debt breakdown, a fake police identification card, a pair of small handcuffs, one 7-meter metal chain, a blue beret, a Mandiri bank account book under the name of Muhammad Arifin Ilham and a fake handgun.
The suspects will be charged with articles 328, 333 and 368 of the Criminal Code for kidnap and extortion with a maximum prison sentence of nine to 12 years. (prm)
