The police arrested two men on Thursday for kidnapping the 79-year-old mother of Sheng Siong supermarket chief executive Lim Hock Chee. Madam Ng Lye Poh was kidnapped on Wednesday and released at Seletar West Camp early Thursday morning after her son paid $2 million in ransom.

Here is a timeline of what happened:

Jan 8

9am: Madam Ng Lye Poh takes a morning walk to a nearby market close to Hougang Avenue 8, as she has done for the last 10 years.

10.30am: Madam Ng's maid meets her to take home the items she bought, because the bags were too heavy for the 79-year-old. Madam Ng stays behind for breakfast. This is the last time anyone sees her before the kidnapping.

11am: A stranger approaches Madam Ng as she walks along Hougang Avenue 2 (not Hougang Avenue 8 as previously reported based on what the police said). He lures her into his car on the pretext of taking her to see her son, who he claims has been seriously injured in a bad fall. She is later blindfolded and bound.

1pm: Her son, Mr Lim Hock Chee, receives a call from her kidnappers, who demand a $20 million ransom.

2.13pm: He calls the police to report the kidnapping after a discussion with his elder brother. Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department respond to the case.

Jan 9

12am: Mr Lim drives to Sembawang Park alone and leaves a bag containing $2 million in cash under a tree in the park. The ransom had been negotiated down earlier.

12.20am: Kidnappers call Mr Lim and tell him that they have released his mother near Seletar West Camp. Police officers later find Madam Ng at a bus stop along Seletar Aerospace Drive and take her to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital for a check-up.

1am: The police track down the two suspects and arrest them separately in Hougang and Ang Mo Kio. The officers also recover the $2 million ransom under a tree near a pavilion near Car Park 2 of Sembawang Park.

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