Six suspects, including two women, have been detained by police for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping of a Chinese businessman and the demand for a ransom of 4,000,000 Baht.
Pol Maj-Gen Noppasilp Poonsawat, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, claims that Lumpini officers were contacted by a Chinese citizen who complained that he had lost communication with a buddy. He saw his missing friend’s face-bruised visage in a video call that he received on April 15th from an unidentified individual. The man wanted a ransom payment of roughly 4,000,000 baht in return for his freedom.
The man asserted that he had transferred 3,930,000 baht in three transactions into the bank account of one of the suspects, a woman only known as “Sarita,” and that the hostage would be freed on April 16 at a Hua Hin restaurant, according to the man.
When “Kob” and “June” arrived to the restaurant carrying the hostage, undercover police officers waited there and detained the two suspects. The names “Kai” and “Nampetch” of two further suspects were taken into custody on Monday night in Bangkok’s Sathorn district. “Sarita” was detained at a Hua Hin parking lot, while “Thanayuth,” also known as “Jo,” was apprehended last night (Monday) in Khlong 6 in the province of Pathum Thani.
The Chinese businessman, whose name was withheld, was allegedly kidnapped from his hotel room on the night of April 14 in the Lang Suan neighborhood, according to the police.
The hotel’s CCTV system on the 17th floor captures two men exiting a room while pushing a cart while pulling a huge plastic package covered in cloth. They then enter an elevator. The hostage’s light blue Mercedes Benz was then approaching them as it left the hotel parking area for a Hua Hin resort. The two men approached it as they exited the lift.
A former Suphan Buri beauty queen named “Nampetch” and her Thai partner, according to Pol Maj-Gen Noppasilp, are accused of plotting the hostage’s kidnapping and ransom attempt.
Sarita’s bank account contained 2.3 million baht that the police were able to seize.
The hostage had escaped to Thailand on a tourist visa, according to the deputy commissioner, and is wanted in China on suspicion of fraud. But he said that there hasn’t yet been a Red Notice from Interpol for his arrest.
