Five wanted for abduction

JAKARTA(JP): The North Jakarta Police are seeking five men for their alleged roles in the kidnapping of Bill Dharmawan, brother of the owner of the country's largest retail chain, PT Matahari Putra Prima, an officer said on Monday.

"We identified them after we obtained their descriptions from the victim and also as a result of our preliminary investigations," North Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Andi Chaeruddin said.

The younger brother of Hari Dharmawan, Bill, was reported to have been kidnapped last Saturday at a shopping mall in North Jakarta. A ransom of Rp 7 billion was also reportedly demanded. On Thursday, Bill was released although it still remains unclear whether the kidnappers were paid any money.

"That's why we are still continuing to probe the case because as far as I know the family has not yet paid any ransom," Andi explained.

Andi said police had reached the preliminary conclusion that the motive behind the abduction was financial as the kidnappers had demanded a ransom.

Andi said he did not want to speculate that the kidnappers could have been people close to the victim or his wealthy elder brother. (emf)