Kidnap, drugs: Five cops held
Published on: Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Five policemen were detained for separate offences over alleged kidnapping and drugs in Lahad Datu and Tawau, respectively, three of them General Operations Force (GOF) personnel. In the first case, three policemen and a civilian were arrested for alleged involvement in the kidnapping of a Filipina IMM13 holder in Lahad Datu who was released upon payment of a RM50,000 ransom on Jan. 7.State CID Chief Datuk Salehhudin bin Abd Rahman (pic) said two GOF and another police personnel based in Lahad Datu as well as a Lahad Datu resident, aged between 26 and 33, were apprehended separately between 11.30am and 4.30pm in the district on Monday.ADVERTISEMENT "The 45-year-old victim who is a fishmonger was kidnapped by three armed masked men from her house in Kg Silam at 10pm on Jan 6. "The kidnappers drove her into a forest and threatened to kill her if she failed to come up with RM50,000 in ransom money."The victim contacted her family and together with her friends, were able to raise the amount and handed over the money to the suspects around midnight on Jan. 7 in Lahad Datu. The victim was then freed."A special task force was formed and as a result of our investigation, we arrested four suspects comprising two corporals and one constable, and a Lahad Datu local on Jan. 11," he told a press conference, Tuesday.ADVERTISEMENT Two firearms – one MP5 and a rifle M16 – belonging to the police, a Ford Ranger vehicle, a Perodua Viva, four handphones, and RM8,100 were seized from the suspects as well as clothes believed used by them in the abduction.All suspects have been remanded to be investigated under Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1961 that carries the death penalty or life imprisonment with caning, upon conviction.
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Salehhudin believed money was the motive for the kidnapping."I would like to emphasise here that the police force would never compromise with any quarter, including our own personnel or officers, if found guilty in this case."We will act accordingly," he said.It was earlier reported that the 45-year-old victim had lodged a report at the Lahad Datu police station after she was freed.In her report, the victim said three armed masked men appeared at her house doorstep and asked if the premises belonged to one "Haji Yusuf" at 10pm on Jan. 6. She replied she did not know who that person was, after which the trio pulled her into a 4WD and took her on a joyride to a forested area at Jalan Dewata before heading to Jalan Danum.She claimed the men threatened to kill her unless she came up with RM50,000 prompting her to call her cousin using one of the men's handphones.Her family and neighbours managed to come up with the amount and she was released at about 1am after the men collected the money that was left at a junction in Kg Silam.In TAWAU, two policemen were held along with three women at a rented room in an apartment suite off Jalan Kuhara for allegedly possessing drugs weighing about 7.8gm, on Monday.District Police Chief, ACP Fadil Marsus said a police officer and a police personnel with the Tawau GOF aged 30 and 37, were arrested in the 1pm raid.He said police found 17 tablets of Ecstasy and one Eramin 5 tablet with a market value of RM900.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Meanwhile, the three women aged between 17 and 24 were a local, one who had a birth certificate and another without any document. Fadil said the drugs were believed for personal consumption and the suspects' urine tests showed all were positive for drugs. The case was being investigated under Section 39A (1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.