JOHOR BAHRU - The remaining three suspects allegedly involved in the kidnapping of a seven-year-old boy in Jalan Serampang, Taman Pelangi, in Johor Bahru, have been arrested by the police.

Johor Bahru South Police Assistant Commissioner Raub Selamat said the three local youths were arrested in Pontian at around 5.40pm on Dec 20.

“They will be brought to the Johor Bahru Magistrate’s Court today to obtain a remand order for us to conduct investigations,” he said on Dec 21.

On Dec 20, he said the victim, a Chinese national with Singapore permanent resident status, was reportedly abducted not far from the city centre at around 4.30pm on Dec 12.

The police arrested the main suspect, a 41-year-old car mechanic and business partner of the victim’s father who had planned the kidnapping with three others, seeking a RM300,000 (S$85,800) ransom.

However, no ransom was paid as the police arrested the main suspect on the same day, remanding him for seven days and charging him under Section 363 of the Penal Code for kidnapping.

A Singapore news portal earlier reported that a businessman had taken his wife and two young children, a girl and a boy, to Johor Bahru as he was planning to invest here.

The couple were inside a shop and their children were playing outside at the time of the incident.

A man apparently got out from the front passenger side of a car and grabbed the boy. As the car drove away, the girl alerted her parents.

Fearing for his son’s safety, the businessman then jumped into his car and gave chase. He managed to overtake the other car and blocked it from moving.

He punched the driver’s car window, which shattered, and saw his son sitting in the back seat.

Though the abductors attempted to escape by ramming the businessman’s car, he held on to the door frame and was dragged several metres until injuries forced him to let go.

The abductors then fled on foot, leaving behind the car and the boy. Members of the public alerted the police. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK