Police see links in child kidnapping cases

Police see links in child kidnapping cases

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

With one kidnap victim still unaccounted for, city police said
the latest two child kidnapping cases in Kelapa Gading and Depok
were committed by the same syndicate.

"Our conclusion is based on the fact that the syndicate gave
the parents of the abducted children the same account number, be
it in Kelapa Gading or in Depok," Jakarta Police detectives chief
Sr. Comr. Mathius Salempang said on Thursday.

"However, the syndicate realized that their account number has
been frozen by the Bank Central Asia (BCA) based on a police
request. Therefore, the kidnappers gave parents of the Depok
students another account number."

He said the kidnappers managed to withdraw Rp 5 million
(US$549.45) of the transferred Rp 30 million ransom. The
withdrawal was made at two different automatic teller machines.

"The syndicate members withdrew Rp 2.5 million from an ATM in
Mal Ambassador, South Jakarta, and another Rp 2.5 million from an
ATM in Cikokol, Tangerang," Mathius said.

Police have obtained the video of the closed circuit
television camera at the ATM at the Mal Ambassador, which they
expected to lead them to the syndicate.

They said they had already arrested one of the suspected
syndicate members, identified as Lydia, when she made withdrawals
from an ATM at Taman Sari, West Jakarta.

The syndicate abducted three boys from SMP Cakra Buana junior
high school in Depok on Tuesday. When one of the boys claimed his
father was jobless, they set him free. The syndicate demanded the
parents give them Rp 15 million for each boy as a ransom.

Last week, the gang also kidnapped two students from the
Jubilee private junior high school in Kelapa Gading and demanded
the boys' parents pay a ransom of Rp 20 million each.

All four boys were released soon after the parents transferred
the requested money.

Salempang said judging from the kidnappers' modus operandi,
the syndicate selected their victims on their appearance.

"We suspect that the syndicate picks up school children who
look like they come from well-off families," he said.

Three kidnapping cases have been reported to the police and
officers are still hunting for eight members of the gang.

On Wednesday afternoon, Rosita, 23, told the police that her
husband Siajuari, 25, had been kidnapped in Glodok, West Jakarta.

She said her husband told her he was going to buy some things
in Glodok that afternoon. Later, she received a call from an
unidentified man, saying her husband had hit someone while
driving on the street.

The caller said he was holding Siajuari and demanded a Rp 10
million ransom if Rosita wanted to have her husband returned
safely.

Salempang said police were still hunting for the kidnappers.
and Siajuari had still not been found on Thursday night.

"I have checked the account number given by the kidnappers to
Rosita. The number was different from the account numbers belong
to Lydia's syndicate," he said.

However, the police had yet to rule out the possibility the
latest case was connected to the others, he said.