Kidnapped boy found at friend's house in Bandung

TANGERANG (JP): A mother of an eight-year-old boy, who was kidnapped in Jatiuwung district Friday, has found her son along with the suspected kidnapper in Bandung, West Java.

Titi, 29, said Saturday that the suspect, identified as Ipung, was a friend of her husband, Leonardi, 35. Her son Riki Firmansyah had not returned home on Thursday evening after he left home to go the nearby mosque.

"Ipung told me that he kidnapped my son to make my husband to him to solve their business problem, which I don't know about," the housewife told The Jakarta Post at the Perumnas I housing complex in the Cibodas Sari sub-district.

According to Titi, her husband, a retail supplier, delivers merchandise to several agents in various towns in Java.

Titi said Loenardi has left his family 10 days ago, so she had to make the report to police herself, not with her husband as earlier reported.

"As of today, I have no idea what the problem between Ipung and my husband is," she said, adding Leonardi has not sent her news though she repeatedly called his pager.

"Thank God, Ipung, who I've known for years, just let me and my son go after I found him hiding my son at his uncle's house in Bandung last night," said Titi, who planned to report to the police.

Minutes after she concluded her son missing, Titi reported to the local police and the subdistrict head. She informed her husband through his beeper.

At around 11:30 a.m. Friday, Titi received a message at her beeper, saying that Riki was with the unidentified caller in Bandung.

The caller said that he would take Riki to Palembang in South Sumatra unless a ransom was submitted. Titi said earlier no amount of ransom was mentioned, but later said she was told the demand was Rp 30 million in cash.

The kidnapper asked to be contacted at a phone number and to have the money sent to Jl. Cihampelas 24.

At 1 p.m., Titi left for Bandung accompanied by one of her neighbors by bus.

"I didn't have any money to meet the kidnapper's request," she said, adding she only brought enough money for the trip.

The two arrived in the West Java capital of Bandung at around 5 p.m. only to learn that the phone number belonged to a telecommunication shop. The address on the street, famed for its many garment stores, was an old abandoned building.

"Suddenly, Ipung's name came across my mind and my feeling said that he was the kidnapper," she said. "I didn't know why," she added, only saying she knew Ipung, her husband's acquaintance, lived in Bandung.

Titi and her neighbor then found Ipung at his relative's house while Riki was playing around.

"I was so mad with Ipung after knowing that he kidnapped my son but still he refused to explain his motive," Titi said.

As of Saturday the Tangerang police said they did not know the boy and the suspect had been found.

"I'll check out the information immediately," Tangerang Police Chief Lt. Col. Djoko Satrio said over the weekend.

According to him, Ipung, if Titi's story was true, could be charged for kidnapping. (28/bsr)