Police arrest seven people for kidnapping
Police arrest seven people for kidnapping
JAKARTA (JP): The West Jakarta police arrested yesterday seven men, including two servicemen, who had been holding two men hostage over a business dispute.
Lt. Col. Hari Pribadi, the West Jakarta police chief, said that the police were given their whereabouts yesterday morning by the wife of one of the hostages.
The two servicemen from an elite group of the Armed Forces were identified by another police source as Rasi Purba and Ismail, both in their 30s.
Officer Hari refused to comment on the servicemen, but did identify the remaining five suspects as Edy Sasmito, 40, Saranta, 28, Firmansyah, 23, Heru, 19, and Rusi Jayadi, 27.
According to Hari, the hostage taking operation was led by Edy, the owner of PT Kencana Kinanti Mustika, who held the men hostage in his company's building on Jl. Budi Raya 2B in Kemanggisan.
According to the police, Edy allegedly had been a business partner of one of the hostages, Purnayanta, 44, since last year, said Hari.
Edy agreed to supply construction materials such as gloves, sandpaper and pipes to Purnayanta, who later loaned and sold them to other parties.
In January, Edy asked Purnayanta, a resident of Cipondoh in Tangerang, for the Rp 77 million that he was owed. When asked to repay, Purnayanta said that the third parties had yet to pay him for the materials.
Edy then asked his friends, including the two servicemen, to press Purnayanta for the money.
On Jan. 29, the group abducted Purnayanta and took him to Edy's office.
About two weeks later, Purnayanta asked the men to let him go for several days to get the money.
The group agreed, provided that Purnayanta bring in his brother-in-law, Sunarya, 25, as a guarantee, Hari said.
After five days, on Feb. 19, Purnayanta came back to the building with Rp 35 million, but was not released.
None of Purnayanta's relatives was willing to report the case to the police until his wife, Inus, 29, came to the West Jakarta police station at around 1 a.m. yesterday.
Dozens of detectives and personnel from other units were deployed to help release the hostages, said Hari.
"However, the investigation is not final because we're still questioning Purnayanta to find out why he did not pay his debts," Hari said.
A police source said that Purnayanta might have cheated Edy. "That's why he didn't want any of his relatives and family to report the case to the police," said the source. (bsr)