Police see links in child kidnapping cases<\/p>\n
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
With one kidnap victim still unaccounted for, city police said
\nthe latest two child kidnapping cases in Kelapa Gading and Depok
\nwere committed by the same syndicate.<\/p>\n
\"Our conclusion is based on the fact that the syndicate gave
\nthe parents of the abducted children the same account number, be
\nit in Kelapa Gading or in Depok,\" Jakarta Police detectives chief
\nSr. Comr. Mathius Salempang said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"However, the syndicate realized that their account number has
\nbeen frozen by the Bank Central Asia (BCA) based on a police
\nrequest. Therefore, the kidnappers gave parents of the Depok
\nstudents another account number.\"<\/p>\n
He said the kidnappers managed to withdraw Rp 5 million
\n(US$549.45) of the transferred Rp 30 million ransom. The
\nwithdrawal was made at two different automatic teller machines.<\/p>\n
\"The syndicate members withdrew Rp 2.5 million from an ATM in
\nMal Ambassador, South Jakarta, and another Rp 2.5 million from an
\nATM in Cikokol, Tangerang,\" Mathius said.<\/p>\n
Police have obtained the video of the closed circuit
\ntelevision camera at the ATM at the Mal Ambassador, which they
\nexpected to lead them to the syndicate.<\/p>\n
They said they had already arrested one of the suspected
\nsyndicate members, identified as Lydia, when she made withdrawals
\nfrom an ATM at Taman Sari, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The syndicate abducted three boys from SMP Cakra Buana junior
\nhigh school in Depok on Tuesday. When one of the boys claimed his
\nfather was jobless, they set him free. The syndicate demanded the
\nparents give them Rp 15 million for each boy as a ransom.<\/p>\n
Last week, the gang also kidnapped two students from the
\nJubilee private junior high school in Kelapa Gading and demanded
\nthe boys' parents pay a ransom of Rp 20 million each.<\/p>\n
All four boys were released soon after the parents transferred
\nthe requested money.<\/p>\n
Salempang said judging from the kidnappers' modus operandi,
\nthe syndicate selected their victims on their appearance.<\/p>\n
\"We suspect that the syndicate picks up school children who
\nlook like they come from well-off families,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Three kidnapping cases have been reported to the police and
\nofficers are still hunting for eight members of the gang.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday afternoon, Rosita, 23, told the police that her
\nhusband Siajuari, 25, had been kidnapped in Glodok, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
She said her husband told her he was going to buy some things
\nin Glodok that afternoon. Later, she received a call from an
\nunidentified man, saying her husband had hit someone while
\ndriving on the street.<\/p>\n
The caller said he was holding Siajuari and demanded a Rp 10
\nmillion ransom if Rosita wanted to have her husband returned
\nsafely.<\/p>\n
Salempang said police were still hunting for the kidnappers.
\nand Siajuari had still not been found on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
\"I have checked the account number given by the kidnappers to
\nRosita. The number was different from the account numbers belong
\nto Lydia's syndicate,\" he said.<\/p>\n
However, the police had yet to rule out the possibility the
\nlatest case was connected to the others, he said.<\/p>",
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