T

he Jakarta Police arrested on Tuesday night three members of a gang suspected of kidnapping University of Indonesia (UI) student Safira Permatasari, 20, as she was on her way to campus on Monday.

South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Wahyu Hadiningrat said on Wednesday that the three suspects were arrested in two separate locations. '€œOne was arrested at a hotel in Kota, West Jakarta, while the other two were arrested in Kuningan in South Jakarta,'€ he said.

He added that based on information from the three suspects there were a total of five perpetrators. Wahyu said police officers were still hunting the other two alleged kidnappers.

'€œThe evidence is the perpetrators'€™ messages when they sent ransom demands to Safira'€™s family,'€ he said.

'€œWe are hunting the two suspects still at large. But, we are still investigating this case so we are not yet sure if there are just five of them or whether even more were involved,'€ he explained.

Separately, South Jakarta Police spokesman Comr. Aswin said that the suspects had been charged under Article 328 of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of 12 years'€™ imprisonment.

According to Wahyu, the motive behind the kidnapping was ransom money. He said the suspects targeted Safira after learning about her family background and they expected the family to be able to pay the exorbitant ransom of US$1 million.

'€œThe kidnappers prepared their plan over two months,'€ he said, adding that one of the suspects was known to the family.

Safira'€™s father, Fairus Sofyan, is the owner of film production company Nayfosindo Production, according to the police report. The company has produced a number of films and advertisements.

Wahyu said that prior to kidnapping Safira, the gang had unsuccessfully tried to abduct her younger sister two weeks earlier. Wahyu did not elaborate on why the suspects had failed in their previous attempt.

He said when the police freed Safira, she was shocked and traumatized. She has been returned to her family but Wahyu said the police would continue to monitor her physical and psychological condition.

On Monday, Safira went to her campus in Depok, West Java from Lenteng Agung in South Jakarta using a private car driven by the family'€™s driver.

The police said another car hit them and the driver and passengers of that car demanded Safira and the driver get out of their car to settle the damages.

'€œOn Monday at around 10 a.m., the kidnappers followed the victim when she was on her way to campus with her driver. Suddenly, a person knocked on her car [window] and said it had bumped into their car,'€ Wahyu said.

As she was in a hurry, Safira, a student at the School of Architecture at UI, left her driver to deal with the situation and hailed a taxi.

After that, she went missing.

Wahyu said apparently the suspects followed Safira'€™s taxi.

In April this year, the Jakarta Police freed a businessman, Thalib Abbas, 78, who had been taken by force from his home in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, and held for five days by seven men.

The abductors had demanded a ransom of Rp 400 million, claiming that the money was payment for a debt owed by the victim'€™s son. (saf)