Kidnappers get away with Ep 28m<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Just a week after the police arrested a woman suspected of being
\na member of a kidnapping syndicate operating in Kelapa Gading,
\nNorth Jakarta, a similar case took place in Depok, south of
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Two students of SMP Cakra Buana private junior high school --
\nidentified as Michael, 14, and Fajar, 14 -- were abducted when
\nwalking home from school on Monday.<\/p>\n
Depok Police chief Sr. Comr. Raja Erizman said on Wednesday
\nthat the syndicate had demanded Rp 15 million (US$1,648) ransom
\nfor each boy from the parents. The parents immediately
\ntransferred the money to the appointed bank account. However,
\nRaja did not disclose the bank or the name of the account holder.<\/p>\n
The parents also contacted the police for help.<\/p>\n
Detectives from Depok Police immediately launched a hunt for
\nthe kidnappers and patrolled several places until they received a
\ntipoff that the kidnappers had moved to a house in Bintaro,
\nTangerang. When they searched the house, they did not find the
\nchildren.<\/p>\n
Michael and Fajar were dropped off at Depok Mall on Tuesday
\nafternoon after the kidnappers received the ransom. The boys
\nimmediately rushed home.<\/p>\n
\"We are still hunting down the kidnappers. We have yet to get
\nany information from the victims. We haven't questioned them
\nsince they are still traumatized,\" Raja said.<\/p>\n
The Depok case was the third reported kidnapping case in
\nGreater Jakarta this week.<\/p>\n
Spokesman of the Jakarta Police, which oversees the
\nneighboring cities of Tangerang, Bekasi and Depok, Sr. Comr.
\nTjiptono warned parents to remind their children not to speak to
\nstrangers.<\/p>\n
\"Looking at the recent modus operandi, it is important for the
\npolice to remind parents to keep telling their children not to
\ntrust strangers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In the case of Michael and Fajar, they were approached by
\nseveral unidentified men, who said that they were sent by the
\nboys' parents to bring them home. The boys then agreed to get
\ninto the kidnappers' car.<\/p>\n
Tjiptono also said that the syndicate was likely targeting
\nschools for families from the middle and high-income bracket.<\/p>\n
\"Based on the preliminary investigation, we conclude that the
\nkidnappers have been targeting children from well-off families,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
The previous case took place on Oct. 25 in Kelapa Gading when
\nJohanes, 13, and Nicholas, 13, both students of SMP Jubilee
\nprivate junior high school, were abducted after school by
\nunidentified men at two separate locations.<\/p>\n
The kidnappers demanded the boys' parents each pay Rp 20
\nmillion in ransom. Soon after they received the money, the boys
\nwere returned safely to their parents.<\/p>\n
One of the alleged syndicate members, Lydia, 40, was arrested
\nwhen collecting the ransom money through an automated teller
\nmachine (ATM) of Bank Central Asia in Taman Sari, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
A Don Bosco junior high school student in Pulomas, East
\nJakarta, was also kidnapped in late September. The parents sent
\nRp 20 million in ransom and the boy was returned to them
\nunharmed.<\/p>\n
Police did not say whether they had concluded that all the
\nkidnapping cases were committed by the same syndicate.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kidnappers-get-away-with-ep-28m-1447893297",
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