Six Thai suspects in custody for alleged kidnap of Chinese businessman
Police have arrested six suspects, including two women, for alleged involvement in the kidnap of a Chinese businessman and a four million baht ransom demand.
According to Pol Maj-Gen Noppasilp Poonsawat, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, Lumpini officers received a complaint from a Chinese national claiming that he had lost contact with his friend. On April 15th, he received a video call from an unidentified man, showing the image of his missing friend with bruises on his face. The man demanded about four million baht in ransom in exchange for his release.
The man claimed that he had made three transfers, amounting to 3,930,000 baht, into the bank account of a female only identified as “Sarita”, one of the suspects, and the kidnappers promised to release the hostage at a restaurant in Hua Hin on April 16th.
Undercover police officers waited at the restaurant and arrested two suspects, identified as “Kob” and “June”, when they showed up with the hostage. Two other suspects, identified as “Kai” and “Nampetch”, were arrested Monday evening in Bangkok’s Sathorn area. “Sarita” was arrested in a car park in Hua Hin and the sixth suspect, “Thanayuth”, aka “Jo”, was nabbed last night (Monday) in Khlong 6 in Pathum Thani province.
According to the police, the Chinese businessman, whose name was not disclosed, was abducted from his hotel room in the Lang Suan area on the night of April 14th.
The hotel’s CCTV system on the 17th floor shows two men pushing a cart, carrying a large plastic box covered with a cloth, out of a room and entering an elevator. The two men then got off the elevator in the hotel’s parking lot and moved towards a light blue Mercedes Benz, belonging to the hostage, and departing for a resort in Hua Hin.
Pol Maj-Gen Noppasilp allege that the hostage’s Thai girlfriend “Nampetch”, a former beauty queen in Suphan Buri province, and her Thai boyfriend allegedly plotted the abduction and ransom attempt.
Police managed to impound 2.3 million baht from Sarita’s bank account.
The deputy commissioner also said that the hostage is wanted in China on a fraud charge and had fled to Thailand on a tourist visa. He added, however, that no Interpol Red Notice has been issued yet for his arrest.
