Sadistic kidnappers still on the loose
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police confirmed on Friday that the same gang was responsible for at least three kidnappings in Pademangan, North Jakarta; Cipayung, East Jakarta; and Cianjur, West Java.
They also said that the perpetrators were very clever and slick, which made them quite dangerous.
Currently, the police are working on the assumption that the motive for the kidnappings was money and extreme sexual perversion.
"The kidnappers have a long criminal history. One thing is for sure, they are sick people," said one detective, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The kidnapping gang is confirmed to have abducted, brutally raped and killed a 23-month-old baby girl in March in Pademangan and a nine-year-old girl in Cipayung earlier this month. All after demanding a relatively large ransom from the victims' parents and getting away with the money.
Currently, the gang have two girls from Cianjur and are demanding a Rp 10 million (US$1,176) ransom.
According to the parents of the victims, the gang members claimed that they had experience in abducting and killing children, particularly in Muara Angke, West Jakarta; Sunter, North Jakarta; Bogor and Tangerang.
However, the police declined to confirm whether or not the gang was also involved in the kidnappings in those areas, saying that they had no authority to comment on cases in other precincts.
"There is a probability that there are more kidnapping cases, but the parents did not report them to the police," said the detective.
The police actually have a photograph and sketches of the kidnappers, but they would not be published, as it might make them panic, thus jeopardizing the lives of their hostages.
The kidnapping in Pademangan, which took place in March, was the first that is believed to have been carried out by the suspected gang this year.
The gang's method was first to win the trust of the victims over a period of two to three months. The gang even rents a house near the target family, and when the time comes, a gang member will politely take the children for a walk, usually after asking for the parents' permission.
First Insp. Santoso, the chief of detectives in Pademangan subprecinct, had said earlier that the kidnappers in this case identified themselves as Dani alias Deni Saputra, 21, and his elder brother Jerry alias Jefry Saputra, 25.
Dani allegedly kidnapped the 23-month-old girl and demanded a ransom of Rp 15 million. However, after a month in captivity and the ransom paid, the child was found dead in Bogor. The baby girl was brutally raped and murdered.
Earlier this month, Jerry was believed to have kidnapped a nine-year-old girl in Cipayung, using a green Daihatsu Zebra minivan. After the girl's parents paid the Rp 3.8 million ransom, the girl was found dead in a cardboard box in Karawang, West Java.
Second Insp. Hariyadi, chief of detectives in Cipayung police subprecinct said that before the girl was murdered, she had also been brutally raped and beaten.
In the Cianjur case, the suspects -- using the same green minivan but with different license plates -- kidnapped three girls and a boy earlier this week, and demanded Rp 15 million.
After the children's parents paid a ransom of Rp 5 million, the boy and one of the girls were released. One was found tied up and naked in a forest in Cileungsi, Bogor, and the other in a soccer field in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta.
According to First Insp. Widodo, deputy chief of detectives in Cianjur, as of last night, the other two children were still being held by the kidnappers.
Media reports said that the victims usually lived in crowded residential areas and did not come from wealthy families.
The reports also implied that the brothers were accompanied by a woman and another young man. The perpetrators of three recent kidnappings in Bogor and Tangerang between March and July were also believed to be part of the gang.