Abductees not linked to any VIP

BENTONG: The two abductees who were rescued by police after a car chase in Genting Highlands are not linked to any property tycoon or a VIP.

Bentong OCPD Supt Mansor Mohd Nor brushed aside earlier reports that one of the victims was related to a wealthy businessman, saying the abductees’ families were “just small-time business owners”.

“The female victim’s family runs a food stall while the male’s family has a small business breeding fish bait,” he told reporters at the district police headquarters here yesterday.

He said police had yet to establish the motive behind the abduction of the man, aged 19, and woman, 26, on Sunday after they were robbed at a hotel in Genting Highlands.

Police said the victims, who were direct sales personnel, were at the resort for work.

They were accosted with an air pistol at the hotel car park at about 5am as they were getting their things from the male victim’s Proton Perdana.

The suspects took the victims’ belongings and ordered the man to get into the boot of his car while the woman was shoved into the car. The suspects then drove off in the car.

They were accompanied by two others in another car, a Honda City, which was reported stolen in Ampang the day before the abduction.

As the cars headed downhill, the Honda City stopped by the road side. Officers noticed the car and went to investigate but the car sped off with the police in pursuit.

The chase ended when the driver of the car lost control, causing the car to flip onto its side in Gohtong Jaya.

While the suspects were being arrested, the Proton Perdana pulled up and the suspects claimed that they knew the driver and passenger in the Honda City.

Police then took all five, including the woman, to the Gohtong Jaya police station for questioning where an officer heard a muffled sound coming from the Proton Perdana’s boot. They found the other victim inside it.

All four suspects, aged between 25 and 34, tested positive for drugs and two of them had criminal records – one for drugs and robbery and the other, for falsifying documents.